'atelophobia' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'atelēs' (or 'atelos') meaning 'imperfect, incomplete' and 'phobos' meaning 'fear'.

'atelophobia' is a modern English formation (a coinage using Greek roots) created by combining 'atelēs/atelos' + 'phobos' via the combining form '-phobia'; it entered psychological and popular usage in recent decades rather than evolving from Old or Middle English.

Initially coined to denote a literal 'fear of imperfection', the term has largely retained that meaning and is used both clinically and colloquially to describe an intense fear of being flawed or inadequate.