Automysophobia - Meaning, Definition & English Examples
Automysophobia is the fear of being dirty or unclean. It involves excessive anxiety about contamination, leading to compulsive washing or avoidance of perceived unclean situations.
Definition:
Fear of being dirty or contaminating oneself, often linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Synonyms:
mysophobia, germophobia, bacteriophobia
Part of Speech:
noun
Antonyms:
cleanliness obsession, hygiene enthusiasm
Common Collocations:
severe automysophobia, struggle with automysophobia, overcome automysophobia
Derivatives:
automysophobic, automysophobe
Usage Tips:
Use "automysophobia" in clinical or psychological contexts to describe an extreme fear of self-contamination.
Common Phrases:
"paralyzed by automysophobia, " "crippling automysophobia, " "battling automysophobia"
Etymology:
From Greek "auto-" (self), "mysos" (uncleanness), and "-phobia" (fear), meaning fear of personal dirtiness.
Examples:
- 1. She avoids touching doorknobs due to her automysophobia.
- 2. His automysophobia makes him wash his hands excessively every day.
- 3. The therapist helped her manage her automysophobia with exposure techniques.
- 4. Automysophobia can severely limit a person's daily activities and social interactions.