'anthophobe' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'ánthos' and 'phóbos', where 'anth-' meant 'flower' and 'phob-' (from 'phóbos') meant 'fear'.

'anthophobe' was formed in modern English by combining the Greek roots 'ánthos' and 'phóbos' using the productive suffix '-phobe' (used to form nouns meaning 'one who fears'), producing the modern coinage 'anthophobe'.

Initially the Greek roots separately meant 'flower' and 'fear', but over time they were combined in English to mean 'a person who fears flowers'.