Meanings
- uncountableThe fear of feathers.
'Um ... pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled with feathers, I think . . . '
2005, Anna Dale, Dawn Undercover, Bloomsbury, published 2006, →ISBN, page 2912 more examples
Then there are the phobes whose fear of birds is combined with a fear of feathers, pteronophobia. One case of bird-and-feathers phobia involved a woman in her thirties who was too frightened to go outside.
1986, Brent Filson, There's a Monster in Your Closet!: Understanding Phobias, Julius Messner, →ISBN, page 55It is easy, for example, for a person to live with pteronophobia, aulophobia, or batrachophobia. One simply stays away from feathers, flutes, and frogs!
1989, Josie Hadley, Carol Staudacher, Hypnosis for Change, New Harbinger Publications, →ISBN, page 98
Origin
- Ancient Greekπτερόν“feather”
- Englishpteronophobia
From Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “feather”) + -phobia.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
pteronophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pteronophobia
“pteronophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pteronophobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pteronophobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pteronophobia.
Source: pteronophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.