Epistolophobia

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An abnormal or irrational fear of correspondence, especially the receiving or writing of letters or messages. uncountable, usually

    "One of the signs of Saussure's progressing reticence was what he himself called his epistolophobia or graphophobia. His letters to colleagues almost invariably began with apologies for a delay (sometimes of years) in responding."

Example

More examples

"One of the signs of Saussure's progressing reticence was what he himself called his epistolophobia or graphophobia. His letters to colleagues almost invariably began with apologies for a delay (sometimes of years) in responding."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ, “message, letter”) + φόβος (phóbos, “fear”) + -ia.

More for "epistolophobia"

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.