sesquipedalophobia

noun

Fear of long words.

Scrabble 37
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Meanings

nounsesquipedalophobia (uncountable)
  1. uncountableFear of long words.

    That hasn't helped my sesquipedalophobia one bit...

    2002 March 6, derm, “Re: Are You Somebody? by O'Faolaint”, in soc.culture.irish (Usenet)
    2 more examples

    But sesquipedalophobia ('hatred or fear of big words,' aptly enough) has prevailed, even among men of learning.

    1983, Verbatim, volume 10, page 25

    Ayesha was like a walking dictionary of phobias. She believed that I had sesquipedalophobia – the fear of long words.

    2008, Abhijit Bhaduri, Married But Available, HarperCollins (2012), →ISBN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Origin

From sesquipedalian + -phobia.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sesquipedalophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sesquipedalophobia

MLA

“sesquipedalophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sesquipedalophobia. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sesquipedalophobia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sesquipedalophobia.

Source: sesquipedalophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.