Coulrophobia
Coulrophobia is an intense or persistent fear of clowns. It may cause distress or avoidance when encountering clowns or images of them.
Specific phobia: An anxiety disorder marked by intense fear of a particular object or situation. Coulrophobia is commonly described within this broader category of fear disorders.
Fear: An emotional response to perceived danger that prepares an organism to respond. Coulrophobia is an unusually intense fear response directed at clowns.
Clown: A comic performer characterized by exaggerated makeup, costume, gesture, or behavior. The feared figure is a performer whose appearance and behavior vary widely.
It: Stephen King's 1986 horror novel about a shape-shifting entity that often appears as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Pennywise is a prominent fictional source of frightening clown imagery.
Classical conditioning: A learning process in which a previously neutral cue comes to trigger a response after association with another stimulus. A frightening clown encounter could teach an enduring fear response to clown cues.
Anxiety: A state of apprehension about possible future danger or uncertainty. Anticipatory anxiety can arise before an encounter with a clown.
Uncanny valley: A hypothesized dip in comfort toward figures that look almost, but not fully, human. Clown makeup can distort familiar facial cues, a feature sometimes linked to unease.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space: A 1988 science-fiction horror comedy film about murderous extraterrestrial clowns. The film turns clown traits into explicit horror conventions.
Avoidance learning: Learning that a behavior prevents or reduces contact with an aversive situation. Avoiding clowns can bring short-term relief while leaving the fear untested.
Phobia: An excessive, persistent fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that can lead to avoidance. The term places clown fear among persistent, cue-specific fears.