pupaphobia

English

Etymology

From Latin pūpa (“doll, puppet”) + -phobia.

Noun

pupaphobia (uncountable)

1. (rare) The fear of puppets.
   • 2000, Richard Powers, Plowing the Dark: A Novel, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page unknown:

     Adie watched in horror: shadowy lives playing against living shadows. A sudden pupaphobia overtook her as she watched the boy volley, step out, recompile a few new lines of code, step back in and volley again.

   • 2010 Summer, Jill Margo, “Getting Textual”, in Geist, volume 19, number 77, →ISSN, page 25:

     I explain to Brian—and Megan and her roommate Darren, who are also lis­tening—that I ran into A. at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, where we’d just seen a puppet show. I’d confessed to A. that I had a mild, though not very committed, case of pupaphobia when he asked me how I liked the show.

   • 2013 April 16, Benny4urThoughts, “Re: Typical Leftists: Party to celebrate Thatcher's death.”, in tx.guns‎^[1] (Usenet):

     When I first heard of pupaphobia, I thought it was a joke. Billy is the first and only pupaphobic that I have ever encountered in my life. That's why Billy makes frequent references to "sock puppets", because he's scared of them all.

   • 2016 October 15, Terri Schlichenmeyer, “New novel tells creepy tale of horror”, in Daily Corinthian, volume 120, number 249, page 5:

     For anyone with coulrophobia (fear of clowns), pupaphobia (fear of puppets) or who merely wants a nights-are-getting-longer novel, here's one that'll chill you good. For you, “The Motion of Puppets” is a book to move on.

   • [2017 October 18, Seth Kubersky, “A weekend full of puppetry-themed entertainment is just the ticket, unless you’re pupaphobic”, in Orlando Weekly‎^[2]:

     Hey kids, the word of the week is "pupaphobia"! Others may enjoy being frightened by chainsaw-wielding maniacs and cannibal clowns, but my Halloween is never complete without a murderous Muppet or two. Thankfully, a pair of events last Friday the 13th provided a perfect double feature of puppet perversity.]