catoptrophobia

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κάτοπτρον (kátoptron, “mirror”) + -phobia.

Noun

catoptrophobia (uncountable)

1. The fear of mirrors.
   • 1999 June 28, Vctr113062 [username], “[TK3 fanfic] "Phoenix" Ch. 17, 2/3”, in rec.games.video.sony‎^[1] (Usenet):

     I wondered what was at the root of Shingo's catoptrophobia - his irrational dread of mirrors.

   • 2008 February 6, Gordon (quoting Ed Naha), “We have nothing to fear...but these bozos”, in misc.news.internet.discuss‎^[2] (Usenet):

     Pundit Bill O'Reilly grapples with "panophobia" (the fear of everything) while, strangely, Rush Limbaugh battles both "catoptrophobia," the fear of mirrors and "Walloonphobia," the fear of the Walloons.

   • 2013, Macalester Bell, Hard Feelings: The Moral Psychology of Contempt, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 72:

     If someone suffers from catoptrophobia (fear of mirrors), he sees mirrors, and their reflections, as dangerous.

Synonyms

• eisoptrophobia
• spectrophobia