1. having an excessive fear of germs and contamination; obsessively concerned with cleanliness and avoiding infection
Usage: informal; often used to describe behavior or attitudes rather than a clinical diagnosis

Examples

• My germaphobic coworker washes her hands every hour and refuses to touch the office doorknob.
• He became increasingly germaphobic after watching a documentary about bacteria.
• The germaphobic patient insisted on wearing gloves and a mask at all times.
• Her germaphobic tendencies made it difficult for her to enjoy public swimming pools.
• During the pandemic, many people developed germaphobic behaviors.
• The germaphobic teacher sanitized every desk before class began.