sesquipedalophobia

English edit

Etymology edit

From sesquipedalian +‎ -phobia.

Noun edit

sesquipedalophobia (uncountable)

  1. Fear of long words.
    • 1983, Verbatim[1], volume 10, page 25:
      But sesquipedalophobia ('hatred or fear of big words,' aptly enough) has prevailed, even among men of learning.
    • 2002 March 6, derm, “Re: Are You Somebody? by O'Faolaint”, in soc.culture.irish[2] (Usenet):
      That hasn't helped my sesquipedalophobia one bit...
    • 2008, Abhijit Bhaduri, Married But Available[3], HarperCollins (2012), →ISBN:
      Ayesha was like a walking dictionary of phobias. She believed that I had sesquipedalophobia – the fear of long words.

See also edit