Lalophobia
/ˌlæləˈfoʊbiə/noun
An intense or irrational fear of speaking or talking.
Did you know?The first half comes from Greek lalia, meaning speech or talk, while phobos originally referred to panic or flight from danger—not merely abstract fear.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhegw-
“To flee or escape; a proposed ancestral root connected with Greek fear-and-flight vocabulary”
Ancient Greek
Greek
λαλέω (laleō)
“To talk, chatter, or speak”
Ancient Greek
Greek
λαλία (lalia)
“Speech, talk, or verbal expression”
Ancient Greek
Greek
φόβος (phobos)
“Fear, panic, or flight from danger”
Modern medical English
English
lalophobia
“A term for an intense fear of speaking or talking”
Modern English
English
Lalophobia
“A clinical or informal label for fear of speaking, especially in social situations”
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