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1word1day2016-01-21 08:06 am
prettygoodword.livejournal.com) wrote in 1word1day2016-01-21 08:06 am
Thursday word: kakorrhaphiophobia
kakorrhaphiophobia (kak-uh-raf-ee-uh-FOH-bee-uh) - n., the abnormal fear of failure.
Which can, of course, be crippling -- preventing one from even even attempting in the first place. A synonym, possibly slightly more common, is atychiphobia (and is the form used in French). As for etymology, I'm a little baffled: the dictionaries say it's from Greek root kako-, meaning bad/evil, but are silent on the -rhaphio- part. Anyone have access to an OED that can shed some light on the matter?
His kakorrhaphiophobia keeps him from applying for another job.
---L.
Which can, of course, be crippling -- preventing one from even even attempting in the first place. A synonym, possibly slightly more common, is atychiphobia (and is the form used in French). As for etymology, I'm a little baffled: the dictionaries say it's from Greek root kako-, meaning bad/evil, but are silent on the -rhaphio- part. Anyone have access to an OED that can shed some light on the matter?
His kakorrhaphiophobia keeps him from applying for another job.
---L.
no subject
no subject
etymology
I've added the etymology and details to wiktionary now, it comes from κακορραφία, which means "bad" + "to sew". Rather than "badly sewn", its more like an evil plan (what a tangled web we weave, etc) or interference by others that causes the failure.
The root word appears twice in Homer, once in the Illiad, and once in the Odyssey.
Re: etymology