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neophobic. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
neophobic, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
neophobic in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
neophobic you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From neo- + -phobic.
Noun
neophobic (plural neophobics)
- (psychology) A person or animal that fears or dislikes new or novel experiences or food.
- Synonym: paleophobic
- Antonyms: paleophilic, neophobic
1963, S. A. Barnett, The Rat: A Study in Behavior, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 48:In unpublished work, P. E. Cowan finds Rattus rattus, like R. norvegicus, to be markedly neophobic.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 […]
1963, S. A. Barnett, The Rat: A Study in Behavior, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 68: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.
Adjective
neophobic (not comparable)
- Afflicted by neophobia; fearing or disliking what is new