Koumpounophobia

Koumpounophobia is the term for a phobia of clothing buttons. People with it commonly feel fear and disgust when they see buttons or touch them. The word is built from the Modern Greek verb meaning to button and the Ancient Greek word for fear. The source gives only a rough figure for how common it is, estimating that fewer than one percent of people in the United States have the phobia. The lead says nothing about its causes or its treatment, so this entry records only what the phobia is, how it shows itself and where its name comes from. The fear is directed at an ordinary article of clothing, and the source describes it as showing up when buttons are seen as well as when they are handled.