Sometimes the word is used in a sense wherein it is metaphorical and unrelated to its etymological origins, as in for instance when a man sees another man as a rival and a potential source of infidelity for his spouse. Other reviews have applied the term as a euphemism or allegory to indicate that society is in contemporary times less willing to be objective and straighforward in discussions of the physiological aspects of the young male body in general due to prudery, or a celibacist and puritan standpoint that in particular targets men and boys. For instance, Ken Corbett has theorized the fact of widespread absence of the penis as an object of discussion in children's books and parenting books as evidencing that ""a kind of phallophobia has crept into our cultural theorizing"". In other writings it has been used as an epithet to describe the lesbian or female asexual aversion to male sexuality. Author Fawzi Boubia defines phallophobia as a hostility towards the stronger male gender. The term has also been used as a substitute to indirectly express an aversion to procreation. Phallophobia has also been used as an algorithm in studies of heuristics in robotic decision making in themes related to sexual temperance. In criticisms of anti-male sexism, phallophobia is used as an epithet to deride double standards and hypocrisy in the legal system, all down to the set of genitalia one possesses. One of the byproducts of this phobia among women is that it may result in them faking an orgasm to mask their feeling of revulsion around their male spouse. Forms of treatment may include intensive counselling and therapy sessions.

Phallophobia in its narrower sense is a fear of the erect penis and in a broader sense an excessive aversion to masculinity.

A term whose meaning is synonymous with eurotophobia is kolpophobia; however; the scope of kolpophobia can sometimes be broader, allowing for the inclusion of all sex organs. Although eurotophobia does not have an interlingual classical compound, kolpophobia has a Greek etymological derivation with the prefix "kolpo" meaning a fold that usually alludes to the vulva. Eurotophobia is a hyponym of genitophobia. On the other hand, the term vaginaphobia is used to denote fear of female genitals in the context of sexual orientation. The male counterpart that analogously corresponds with this condition is called phallophobia.

Such an exhibit of detestation for the female genitalia can originate from some innate inherency, or learned from frequent denunciations of one's aesthetic appearance and aberrating comments during childhood. Sometimes eurotophobia is a spin-off of aversion to perceived by-products of the female genitalia, such as discharge or mucus. The condition can manifest itself in both men and women and is at times triggered by some strenuous event. This phenomenon has also been observed in medical students, particularly those in the field of obstetrics, at times leading to dropping out. According to the online Romanian women's magazine Ele, the appropriation of this condition by women may lead to various symptoms including depression and self-harm and that it originates from a highly prudish and puritanical upbringing. Other explanations posit the transmission of urban legends such as vagina dentata or Freudian concepts such as castration anxiety. Eurotophobes may also have developed their condition after being molested by an adult female.