neophobic

English

Etymology

From neo- +‎ -phobic.

Noun

neophobic (plural neophobics)

1. (psychology) A person or animal that fears or dislikes new or novel experiences or food.

   Synonym: paleophobic

   Antonyms: paleophilic, neophobic

   • 1963, S. A. Barnett, The Rat: A Study in Behavior, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 48:

     In unpublished work, P. E. Cowan finds Rattus rattus, like R. norvegicus, to be markedly neophobic. These commensal species have been compared with two Australian congeners, R. fuscipes and R. villosissimus, both largely independent of man and neither neophobic in the laboratory conditions in which they have been tested. The typical new object reaction, first clearly described in investigations of rats as pests, is perhaps a product of natural selection in man-made environments. But there is no universal rule: the commensal house mouse, Mus musculus, displays, instead of typical neophobia, a capricious and unpredictable kind of behavior […]

   • 1963, S. A. Barnett, The Rat: A Study in Behavior, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 68:

     Similarly, it would be appropriate if acutely poisoned rats became neophobic in general (as distinct from avoid-ing a particular food, that is, poison-shy); they should then become correspondingly paleophilic.

Adjective

neophobic (not comparable)

1. Afflicted by neophobia; fearing or disliking what is new

Related terms

• neophobe
• neophobia