neophobic

Definitions

A person or animal that fears or dislikes new or novel experiences or food.

Examples

“In unpublished work⟳, P. E. Cowan finds Rattus rattus, like⟳ R. norvegicus, to be markedly neophobic. These commensal species have⟳ been compared with two Australian congeners, R. fuscipes and R. villosissimus, both largely independent of man and neither neophobic in the laboratory conditions in which they have⟳ been tested. The typical new object reaction, first clearly described in investigations of rats as pests, is perhaps a product of natural selection in man-made environments. But there is no universal rule⟳: the commensal house mouse, Mus musculus, displays, instead of typical neophobia, a capricious and unpredictable kind of behavior […]”

“Similarly, it would be appropriate if acutely poisoned rats became neophobic in general (as distinct from avoid-ing a particular food, that is, poison-shy); they should then become⟳ correspondingly paleophilic.”

CEFR level