coulrophobia

-phobia; ancient Gk. words for "clown" were sklêro-paiktês, from paizein "to play (like a child);" or deikeliktas; other classical words used for theatrical clowns were related to "rustic," "peasant" (cf. L. fossor "clown," lit. "laborer, digger," related to fossil). The whole creation looks suspiciously like the sort of thing idle pseudo-intellectuals invent on the Internet and which every smarty-pants takes up thereafter; perhaps it is a mangling of Modern Gk. klooun "clown," borrowed from the English word.