Meaning of disposophobia | Babel Free

Definitions

Fear or dislike of disposing of items; a tendency to hoard things.

humorous, informal, uncountable

Examples

“At the extreme end of the clutter spectrum are folks who suffer from what some call disposophobia—fear of disposing. In other words, they hoard. According to one report, nearly a million junkaholics suffer from this psychological, and the proof is in the piles. To help those who suffer from disposophobia, a national support group called Clutterers Anonymous models itself after the twelve-step format of Alcoholics Anonymous.”

“Compulsive hoarding (or pathological hoarding or disposophobia) is the selfish acquisition of possessions (and failure to use or discard them)...”

“The fear of throwing things away. Disposophobia, I remembered. A disease immortalized by the legendary Collyer brothers, who'd been found dead in their mess in a Harlem brownstone.”

“Compulsive hoarding has also been labeled "disposophoia" because the person with this disorder feels a real and palpable fear of throwing or giving away, even if the items are essentially worthless.”

CEFR level