Syphilophobias

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A deep-seated fear of contracting syphilis that can provoke anxiety or avoidance of situations associated with sexual activity
2. an irrational dread linked specifically to the sexually transmitted infection syphilis
3. a phobia characterized by excessive worry about the health risks of syphilis, affecting personal relationships and sexual behavior

Etymology: "Syphilophobias" is the plural of "syphilophobia," a noun that names an excessive fear of contracting syphilis. The singular is built from "syphilo-," the combining form of "syphilis," and "-phobia," the Greek-derived suffix for a fear or aversion, from Greek "phobos" meaning fear. Because "syphilis" itself was a sixteenth-century Latin coinage, first popularised by a physician's poem about a shepherd named Syphilus, the medical vocabulary built on it is a modern layering of classical parts rather than anything the ancient Greeks would have recognised. The plural simply counts more than one such fear, usually across different people or different kinds of worry. Its formation follows the ordinary English pattern of adding "-s" to a countable noun, so the meaning of the root is unchanged.