coulrophobia

English

Etymology

Coined in the late 1980s or 1990s, of unknown origin, appearing first, without further explanation, in lists of phobias circulating on the Internet. First use appears c. 1997 according to the OED. According to a widespread theory the term is supposedly based on Ancient Greek κωλοβαθριστής (kōlobathristḗs, “one who goes on stilts”) (from κωλόβαθρον (kōlóbathron, “stilt”), from κῶλον (kôlon, “limb”) + βάθρον (báthron, “something to stand on”), allegedly chosen for lack of an obvious Ancient Greek equivalent of "clown", or with some supposed sense of "stilt-walker" (because earlier clowns used to walk on stilts in their performances), +‎ -phobia (“fear of”) suffix. If true, the literal meaning of coulrophobia would be either "fear of limbs" or "fear of stilt-walkers". This theory fails to explain the substitution of ou for o and of lro for lo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəʊl.ɹə.ˈfəʊ.bi.ə/
• Rhymes: -əʊbiə

Noun

coulrophobia (uncountable)

1. The fear of clowns.

   Synonyms: (humorous) bozophobia, (informal) clownophobia

   • 1999 February, “February: This month's marvels, musts, and misses”, in Condé Nast Traveler, volume 34, page 103:

     […] to develop coulrophobia. On the seventh, clowns from around the world […] congregate at London's Holy Trinity Church for the annual Grimaldi Memorial Service.

   • 2002 Jared Paul Stern, with Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson, "Send out the Clowns", Page Six (NYT)

     Clowns are no laughing matter to Sean "Puffy" Combs. The swaggering rap royal is widely reported to suffer from coulrophobia, an irrational fear of the red-nosed, versized-shoe-wearing, greasepainted circus buffoons.

   • 2003, Andy Field, Graham Hole, How to Design and Report Experiments, page 257:

     ⁵Unfortunately, the first time they attempted the study, the clown accidentally burst one of the balloons. The noise frightened the children and they associated that fear response with the clown. All 15 children are currently in therapy for coulrophobia!

   • 2004, Phineas Mollod, Jason Tesauro, The Modern Lover: A Playbook for Suitors, Spouses & Ringless Carousers, page 39:

     After you plug in your wish list and dating criteria, search results spit out matches; it’s like scanning a room of a thousand and pinpointing the ten who share your favorite author and chronic coulrophobia (fear of clowns).

   • 2006, Crimson de la Voire, Crimson’s Erotica: Volume One — A Collection of Stories About Submission and Pleasure, page 35:

     The ironic twist is that he recently admitted to a possible onset of coulrophobia.

Usage notes

• The term is artificial, coined for inclusion in online "lists of phobias". In the opinion of Online Etymology Dictionary, it "looks suspiciously like the sort of thing idle pseudo-intellectuals invent on the Internet and which every smarty-pants takes up thereafter". The Oxford English Dictionary published the term as an entry in 2020.

Related terms

• coulrophilia

Translations

fear of clowns

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小丑恐惧症 (xiǎochǒu kǒngjùzhèng)

• Esperanto: klaŭnofobio, koulrofobio
• French: coulrophobie (fr) f
• German: Coulrophobie f
• Greek: κλοουνοφοβία f (kloounofovía)
• Hebrew: פַּחַד מלֵיצָנֵים
• Italian: coulrofobia (it) f
• Japanese: ピエロ恐怖症 (ピエロきょうふしょう, piero kyōfushō), 道化恐怖症 (どうけきょうふしょう, dōkekyōfushō)
• Vietnamese: hội chứng sợ chú hề, ám ảnh sợ hãi chú hề, sợ hãi chú hề, sợ chú hề

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “coulrophobia”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. “Coulrophobia looks suspiciously like the sort of thing idle pseudo-intellectuals invent on the internet and which every smarty-pants takes up thereafter; perhaps it is a mangling of Modern Greek klooun "clown," which is the English word borrowed into Greek.”
• Robertson, John G., An Excess of Phobias and Manias (2003), p. 62.
• Travis Langley (2017 February 24) “The Lost Origin of Coulrophobia, the Abnormal Fear of Clowns”, in Beyond Heroes and Villains, Psychology Today (blog), retrieved May 31, 2018.
• “coulrophobia, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• coulrophobia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• colourphobia