triskaidekaphobia

Definitions

Fear or dislike of the number thirteen (13).

uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“Yet, despite beliefs that triskaidekaphobia began long ago and has been passed down through the centuries, the earliest known reference to Friday the 13th as a dreaded day did not appear⟳ until 1913. It is merely a 20th century invention.”

“The great Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg had such a severe case of triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number⟳ 13), he omitted numbering the 13th measure⟳ in some of his later works, substituting it with the notation “12a.””

“There’s even a name⟳ to describe⟳ the irrational dread of the date⟳: paraskevidekatriaphobia — a specialized form⟳ of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number⟳ 13.”

CEFR level