Meanings
- uncountableA morbid fear of caves or caverns.
There is no reason to be concerned, though it is quite natural to exhibit some degree of speluncaphobia.
2011, Graham Deeks, Vermin from Space: Aye in the Sky, page 2432 more examples
So some folks avoid this experience if they fear heights or elevators or suffer from claustrophobia or speluncaphobia.
2012, John Drake Robinson, A Road Trip Into America's Hidden Heart— Traveling the Back Roads, Backwoods and Back YardsCall it claustrophobia, call it speluncaphobia, whether it’s fear of small spaces or fear of caves, “Deep Down Dark” is not a book for those with these phobias punctuated by vivid imaginations.
2015 February 18, John Barker, “2,000 feet below the surface”, in Street Roots: Portland, Oregon's award-winning weekly street newspaper
Origin
From Latin spēlunca + -phobia.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
speluncaphobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speluncaphobia
“speluncaphobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speluncaphobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “speluncaphobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speluncaphobia.
Source: speluncaphobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.