miserabilist
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Variant of miserable + -ist, with interconsonant -i- added due to difficulty or lack of flow in pronouncing miserablist.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
miserabilist (plural miserabilists)
- One who is unhappy, or extols being miserable as a virtue; a philosopher of pessimism.
- Synonyms: buzzkill, killjoy, spoilsport; see also Thesaurus:spoilsport
- 1991, Anthony Powell, Under review: further writings on writers, 1946-1989, page 242:
- Gissing is never more of a miserabilist than when trying to be light-hearted.
- 2006, Iain Sinclair, London: city of disappearances, page 314:
- An old, failed actor who lived on his own, he never had friends dropping by, because he was a bedridden inconsiderate miserabilist.
- 2009 February 7, Lucy Mangan, “Lucy Mangan: This week”, in The Guardian[1]:
- The former Smiths singer, professional miserabilist, vegetarian and gladioli-distributor has posed nude for the inner sleeve artwork for his new single, Heaven Knows I'm Naked Now.
- 2021 November 21, Oliver Milman, quoting Catherine Fieschi, “Climate denial is waning on the right. What’s replacing it might be just as scary”, in The Guardian[2]:
- She said center-right French politicians have started disparaging climate activists as “miserabilists”, […]
Usage notes edit
Also appears as variant miserablist (without interconsonantal -i-), but this latter is less common; likewise miserabilism (with -i-) is more common than miserablism (without -i-).
Related terms edit
Translations edit
one who extols being miserable
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Adjective edit
miserabilist (comparative more miserabilist, superlative most miserabilist)