Melophobia

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Aversion to music. uncountable

    "All the senses, he says, are flattered by wine. “In my youth, when I worked very hard, I used to drink a great deal of tea at breakfast, and, notwithstanding my passion for music, I detested morning concerts. Since I have analysed and experimented upon the cause of my sensations, I am satisfied that my melophobia was caused by the astringent action of the tea on my nervous system in general, and on my acoustic nerves in particular. […]"

Example

More examples

"All the senses, he says, are flattered by wine. “In my youth, when I worked very hard, I used to drink a great deal of tea at breakfast, and, notwithstanding my passion for music, I detested morning concerts. Since I have analysed and experimented upon the cause of my sensations, I am satisfied that my melophobia was caused by the astringent action of the tea on my nervous system in general, and on my acoustic nerves in particular. […]"

Etymology

From melo- + -phobia, from Ancient Greek μελῳδία (melōidía, “music”) + φόβος (phóbos, “fear”), “fear of music”.

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