Standard Lemma guide

thanatophobia

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˌθæn.ə.təˈfoʊ.bi.ə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊbiə

1

noun

Meaning 1

A fear of death.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deathfear

Antonyms: thanatophilia

2

noun

Meaning 2

a morbid fear of death

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: simple phobia

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English thanato- 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 thanatophobia From thanato- + -phobia.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: տանատոֆոբիա (tanatofobia) — fear of death
  • Azerbaijani: tanatofobiya — fear of death
  • Catalan: tanatofòbia — fear of death
  • Chinese Mandarin: 死亡焦虑 (sǐwáng jiāolǜ) — fear of death
  • Chinese Mandarin: 死亡恐惧症 (sǐwáng kǒngjùzhèng) — fear of death
  • Czech: thanatofobie — fear of death
  • Czech: strach ze smrti — fear of death
  • Czech: tanatofobie — fear of death
  • Dutch: thanatofobie — fear of death
  • Estonian: tanatofoobia — fear of death
  • Finnish: kuolemanpelko — fear of death
  • French: thanatophobie — fear of death
  • Galician: tanatofobia — fear of death
  • Georgian: თანატოფობია (tanaṭopobia) — fear of death
  • German: Thanatophobie — fear of death
  • Greek: θανατοφοβία (thanatofovía) — fear of death
  • Icelandic: dauðafælni — fear of death
  • Italian: tanatofobia — fear of death
  • Japanese: 死恐怖症 (shi kyōfushō) — fear of death
  • Kazakh: өлім фобиясы (ölım fobiäsy) — fear of death
  • Kazakh: танатофобия (tanatofobiä) — fear of death
  • Latin: thanatophobia — fear of death
  • Macedonian: танатофо́бија (tanatofóbija) — fear of death
  • Polish: tanatofobia — fear of death
  • Portuguese: tanatofobia — fear of death
  • Russian: танатофо́бия (tanatofóbija) — fear of death
  • Serbo-Croatian: tanatofobija — fear of death
  • Spanish: tanatofobia — fear of death
  • Swedish: thanatofobi — fear of death
  • Tagalog: takot-patay — fear of death
  • Turkish: tanatofobi — fear of death
  • Ukrainian: танатофо́бія (tanatofóbija) — fear of death