trypophobia

try·po·pho·bia
T1R1Y4P3O1P3H4O1B3I1A1
UK/ˌtɹɪpəˈfəʊbi.ə/US/ˌtɹɪpəˈfoʊbi.ə/

noun

An irrational or obsessive fear of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes, such as those found in honeycombs.

OriginAncient Greek τρῦπα →
First used 2005Scrabble 23
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Meanings

nountrypophobia (uncountable)
  1. uncountablehuman sciencesAn irrational or obsessive fear of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes, such as those found in honeycombs.First known use 2005

    Images of lotus seed heads are often reported as inducing trypophobia. Sufferers of trypophobia report that it is the visual percept that is particularly aversive.

    2013 October, G[eoff] G. Cole, A[rnold] J. Wilkins, “Fear of Holes”, in Psychological science, volume 24, number 10, →DOI, →PMID, pages 1980–1985
    1 more example

    2015, Irena Milosevic, Trypophobia (Fear of Holes), Irena Milosevic, Randi E. McCabe (editors), Phobias: The Psychology of Irrational Fear, ABC-CLIO (Greenwood), page 401, In particular, individuals with trypophobia are fearful of clusters of holes that are found in a variety of objects and matter such as skin, coral, honeycombs, seed pods, and even aerated chocolate.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekφόβος“fear, phobia”
  2. Ancient Greekτρυπάω“bore”
  3. Ancient Greekτρῦπα“hole”
  4. Englishtrypophobia

From Ancient Greek τρῦπα (trûpa, “hole”), compare Ancient Greek τρυπάω (trupáō, “bore”), + -phobia (from Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear, phobia”)), said to have been coined by a blogger from Ireland in 2005.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 密集恐懼症 /密集恐惧症
  • 密集恐懼症 /密集恐惧症 (mìjíkǒngjùzhèng)fear of holes
Danish trypofobi
  • trypofobifear of holes
Finnish trypofobia
  • trypofobiafear of holes
French trypophobie
  • trypophobiefear of holes
Greek τρυποφοβία
  • τρυποφοβία (trypofovía)fear of holes
Italian tripofobia
  • tripofobiafear of holes
Japanese 集合体恐怖症
  • 集合体恐怖症 (shūgōtai kyōfushō)fear of holes
Korean 환공포증
  • 환공포증 (hwangongpojeung)fear of holes
Portuguese tripofobia
  • tripofobiafear of holes
Spanish tripofobia
  • tripofobiafear of holes
Swedish trypofobi
  • trypofobifear of holes
Turkish tripofobi
  • tripofobifear of holes

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with trypophobia

phobiahomophobiaxenophobiaagoraphobiaclaustrophobiaaphobiaZenobiaphotophobiaarachnophobiaacrophobiahydrophobiaablutophobiaacephobiaacousticophobiaadverbophobiaaerophobiaagraphobiaaibohphobiaaichmophobiaalgophobiaaltophobiaamathophobiaamaxophobiaambulophobia
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

trypophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trypophobia

MLA

“trypophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trypophobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trypophobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trypophobia.

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