lilapsophobia

American  

[li-lap-suh-foh-bee-uh, lahy-] / lɪˌlæp səˈfoʊ bi ə, laɪ- /

noun

Psychiatry.

1. an irrational or disproportionate fear of tornadoes or hurricanes, or of the possibility that a less severe storm will develop into such catastrophic weather: generally considered a form of astraphobia.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lilapsophobic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of lilapsophobia

First recorded in 1975–80; from Greek laîlaps (inflectional stem laîlap- ) “violent storm, hurricane” + -o- ( def. ) + -phobia ( def. )