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ergophobia

American  
[ur-guh-foh-bee-uh] / ˌɜr gəˈfoʊ bi ə /

noun

  1. Psychiatry. an irrational or disproportionate fear of or anxiety about work: Overtime, ergophobia, and burnout plague the tech sector.

    Researchers are studying ergophobia and other barriers stay-at-home moms may face when reentering the workforce.

    Overtime, ergophobia, and burnout plague the tech sector.

  2. Facetious. an aversion to work.

    How many hours of productivity are we losing to long weekends, ergophobia, and the Monday blues?

Other Word Forms

  • ergophobic adjective

Etymology

Origin of ergophobia

First recorded in 1905–10; ergo- 1 + -phobia

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Navarro has been on sick leave for almost a year and says he has developed ergophobia – a fear of the workplace – as a result of the situation.

From The Guardian

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.