Single Word Requests – What is the Correct Term for a Fear of Breasts?

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I have known this is a phobia for quite a while and remember reading the word long ago, but when I googled it today I got 2 different spellings: mastophobia and mastrophobia. Which one is right? Is either a recognised word? — I couldn't find them in the Oxford dictionary. Is it one of the newly made up words and there isn’t an official word to describe the fear of breasts?

If there is such a word but it's not mastophobia or mastrophobia, what is it?

Example sentence:

Eric liked cold cities where people wore lots of clothing. He positively avoided popular beaches in summer, due to his ______.

Best Answer

I don't see why people are having problems combining Latin and Greek; this is common, and present in the classic claustrophobia. The claustro comes from the Latin claustrum 'to close' and phobia is Greek.


mammophobia is the correct term to use here.

I don't know where "mastro" came from; it doesn't appear to be an actual thing and is not listed as a combining form in the Oxford English Dictionary.

masto- denotes "surgical or medical procedures involving the breasts" according to the OED so is the incorrect term.

The correct form, mammo- "denotes the mamma (breast)"

From this, we can conclude:

mammophobia noun. A fear or aversion to breasts.
Etymology: mammo comb. form denoting the breasts + -phobia comb. form a fear or aversion to something.

OED

OED "mammo"
OED "-phobia"

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