Technofear

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A feeling of fear, anxiety, or distrust toward modern technology and its effects
2. An emotional response involving apprehension or unease about the use or development of technological devices or systems
3. Apprehension or worry about the impact and consequences of technological advances on society or individuals

Etymology: "Technofear" is a plain compound: "techno-" joined to "fear". The first part comes from Ancient Greek "tékhnē", meaning art, craft or skill, which passed into English through the combining form "techno-" and gives us words like technology. The second part is the ordinary English noun "fear", which descends from Old English "fær" (sudden danger or terror) and reaches back through Proto-Germanic "feraną" to an ancient Indo-European root. The combination is modern. Words built with "techno-" tend to be coinages from the twentieth century onward, when the prefix became a productive way to name anything involving machinery or computing. "Technofear" follows that pattern, pairing the Greek idea of skilled craft with a word that, in its oldest English sense, meant sudden peril.