Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

thalassophobia

/θəˌlæ.soʊˈfoʊ.bi.ə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: tha-las-so-pho-bia
IPA: /θəˌlæ.soʊˈfoʊ.bi.ə/

24

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

5

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A morbid fear of the sea or, more generally, deep, large bodies of water such as lakes.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"“I have been endeavoring all the winter to reason away my antipathy to the sea in order to avail myself of a very favorable occasion I now have of passing it—but I have a kind of thalassophobia that resists all kind of argument”"
"1937 George M. Gould. Anomalies and curiosities of medicine. Sydenham Publishers, New York Thalassophobia is the fear of the view of immense spaces or uninterrupted expanses. The Emperor Heraclius, at the age of fifty-nine, had an insurmountable fear of the view of the sea; and it is said that when he crossed the Bosphorus a bridge of boats was formed, garnished on both sides with plants and trees, obscuring all view of the water over which the Emperor peacefully traversed on horseback. The moralist Nicole, was equally a thalassophobe, and always had to close his eyes at the sight of a large sheet of water, when he was seized with trembling in all his limbs. Occasionally some accident in youth has led to an aversion to traversing large sheets of water, and there have been instances in which persons who have fallen into the water in childhood have all their lives had a terror of crossing bridges."
"The polka dots are scars left by the cookiecutter shark, a thalassophobia-inducing creature with jaws designed to remove round plugs of flesh."
"(Editor’s note: Those who suffer from claustrophobia, kabourophobia, arachnophobia or thalassophobia are advised to skip the above trailer.)"

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek θάλασσα (thálassa)lbor. English thalasso- Proto-Indo-European *bʰegʷ- Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -φοβία (-phobía)der. Latin New Latinbor. English -phobia English thalassophobia From thalasso- + -phobia.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /θəˌlæ.soʊˈfoʊ.bi.ə/
British English: /θəˌlæ.səʊˈfəʊ.bi.ə/

Usage

Uncountable

Rhymes With

homophobia phobia xenophobia claustrophobia agoraphobia zenobia arachnophobia photophobia trypophobia hydrophobia acrophobia coulrophobia

Questions

How do you pronounce thalassophobia?: The recorded pronunciation is /θəˌlæ.soʊˈfoʊ.bi.ə/.
What does thalassophobia mean?: A morbid fear of the sea or, more generally, deep, large bodies of water such as lakes.
Where does thalassophobia come from?: Etymology tree Ancient Greek θάλασσα (thálassa)lbor. English thalasso- Proto-Indo-European *bʰegʷ- Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -φοβία (-phobía)der. Latin New Latinbor. English -phobia English thalassophobia From thalasso- + -phobia.

How to pronounce thalassophobia

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “thalassophobia”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/θəˌlæ.soʊˈfoʊ.bi.ə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “thalassophobia”.
Repeat and practice — Say “thalassophobia” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.