




—Napoleon Bonparte
pnigeraphobia (nigh" uhr uh FOH bee uh), pnigerophobia (nigh" uhr uh FOH bee uh) (s) (noun); pnigeraphobias, pnigerophobias (pl)
1. An excessive fear of smothering or choking, especially during sleep: As a very young mother and suffering from pnigeraphobia, Barbara was frightened that her first baby would suffocate during the night, so she didn't let her baby slumber with a blanket, but in a very small blanket bag which didn't go over her head.
2. A pathologic fear of being smothered: Marie certainly didn't have pnigeraphobia because she let her cat sleep in her bed with her, and it slept right on her chest and sometimes across her neck!
pnigophobia (nigh" oh FOH bee uh) (s) (noun), pnigophobias (pl)
1. Morbid fear of choking: Greg's father had an angina pectoris or a heart condition marked by a sudden uncontrollable attack of chest pain as a result of reduced oxygen to the heart, and Greg was terrified that he himself could suffer from pnigophobia.
2. An abnormal fear of suffocating: When Susan, afflicted by pnigophobia, had a bad cold and couldn't breathe through her nose, she used nose drops to make sure she wouldn't be short of air and would be able to breathe easily during the night.
3. Etymology: from Greek pnigos, "choking" + phobos, "fear, dread".
pogonophobia (s) (noun), pogonophobias (pl)
An animosity of beards or of men wearing beards: Mr. Jackson always had to shave his face everyday because his wife had pogonophobia and wanted his face to be soft and smooth and never prickly with short hairs!
poinephobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An excessive horror of punishment: Suffering from poinephobia, little Richard was terrified at doing anything wrong because, if he did, he would rather run away from home than confront his parents and be penalised in some awful way!
poleophobous (adjective); more poleophobous, most poleophobous
In biology, intolerant of urban habitats: Poleophobous moose prefer river valleys with deciduous forests or the alpine region above the tree line, and not the life in cities and towns.
politicophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An excessive dislike of politicians: When watching the news on television, Jack, who was troubled with politicophobia, reacted to the campaigner's speech with anger, and paced the room because he knew that the man would break his promises, just like the year before when he was a legislator in the government.
A politician is yakking on in filibustering.
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polyphobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An excessive fear of many different things: It was quite strenuous getting along with Sally because she disliked or hated a number of activities that the others were excited about, like swimming, hiking, and going to the movies, and so they thought that she had polyphobia.
ponophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An abnormal distaste for exerting oneself: Having ponophobia, Abigail loved lying on the sofa and watching TV and hated doing work around the house or in the garden, fearing that she would overwork herself and be so sweaty, fatigued, and exhausted that she couldn't watch any of her favorite TV programs!
porphyrophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An excessive aversion to the color purple: Whenever Hugh went shopping for shirts, he always tended towards green or yellow, but never in the direction of lavender or reddish blue because he suffered from porphyrophobia!
potamophobia, potomophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
A morbid dread of rivers, of running water, or of sheets of water: Potamophobia may be aroused by the sight, and sometimes thought, of a stream and even a creek, and since Jack is afflicted by this fear, he avoids going on boat rides on any kind of waterway.
potophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An excessive or abnormal revulsion of drinking alcoholic beverages: Beverly's parents had a terrible car accident once because they had had too many glasses of wine that evening, and this very tragic occurrence caused her to be overwrought with potophobia and from then on she only had nonalcoholic, or non-fermented, drinks.
primeisodophobia (s) (noun), primeisodophobias (pl)
An abnormal fear of losing one's virginity: Dr. Dawson, the gynecologist, attempted to calm Sally who had come about her primeisodophobia in anticipation of her wedding and upcoming marital expectations.
proctophobia, rectophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An abnormal dread of the rectum or of a rectum disease: Jason went to his family doctor because he thought he was experiencing pain in the terminal area of his large intestine, and was frightened of having incurred an illness, but his doctor calmed him by saying that he only had proctophobia, or rectophobia, and did not any health problem at all!
prosophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An aversion to progress: Eric knew that he would never suffer from prosophobia because he not only loved his cell phone, computer, TV and other electronic equipment, but knew that he could never live without these new inventions and technology!
proteinphobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An intense antipathy towards protein foods: Dr. Smith thought that Jack, his patient, had proteinphobia and suggested that he should avoid eggs, dairy products, red meat, certain vegetables, grains, etc. for a certain amount of time.