Whoever named this phobia certainly has a sense of humor. Hippoptomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of long words. Since people are not born with phobias, you have to wonder how anyone would develop a phobia for long words. Losing a spelling bee? Maybe the person was traumatized after reading in class out loud. Don’t teachers know what they are doing to kids? Joking aside, this very real phobia will cause its sufferers to get anxious and may even reach the point of a full blown panic attack.