Photophobia

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Excessive sensitivity to light and the aversion to bright light; abnormal fear of light. uncountable, usually
  2. 2
    An aversion to or fear of being photographed, the dissemination of personal photographs, or viewing photographs. uncountable

    "Photophobia was the latest affliction of Afghan officialdom—by contagion, probably, from Persia which tries to nip in the bud pictures that show her not yet entirely modern."

  3. 3
    pain in the eye resulting from exposure to bright light (often associated with albinism) wordnet
  4. 4
    a morbid fear of light wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
allergyanaphylaxisdelicacyempathyhypersensitivityidentification

Example

More examples

"Photophobia was the latest affliction of Afghan officialdom—by contagion, probably, from Persia which tries to nip in the bud pictures that show her not yet entirely modern."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From photo- + -phobia.

Etymology 2

From photo (“photograph”) + -phobia.

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