misogelastic

English

Etymology

From miso- (“hatred; dislike; aversion”) +‎ gelastic.

Adjective

misogelastic (comparative more misogelastic, superlative most misogelastic)

1. (literary, rare) Having a hatred of laughter.
   • 1877 February 1, George Meredith, “On the Idea of Comedy and of the Uses of the Comic Spirit”, in New Quarterly Magazine, volume VIII, London: Ward, Lock, & Co., page 2:

     It is but one step from being agelastic to misogelastic, and the μισογέλως, the laughter-hating, soon learns to dignify his dislike as an objection in morality.

   • 1978, Evan Esar, The Comic Encyclopedia: A Library of the Literature and History of Humor Containing Thousands of Gags, Sayings, and Stories, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 15, column 2:

     The many versions of this story during the Middle Ages were probably spread by agelastic or misogelastic members of the clergy.

   • 1992, R[obert] Emmett Tyrrell Jr., The Conservative Crack-Up, New York, N.Y. […]: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 139:

     Kinsley has always been given to amusing put-downs—a dispensation allowed him in the misogelastic media because he presents himself as a moralist.

   • 1997, Mark Langer, “Animatophilia, cultural production and corporate interests: The case of Ren & Stimpy”, in Jayne Pilling, editor, A Reader in Animation Studies, London […]: John Libbey, →ISBN, page 145:

     Affected by widespread misogelastic tendencies among arbiters of film culture, animation was relegated to reaches of a cultural limbo even beyond those occupied by other film forms with a touch of levity, such as the musical or comedy.

   • 2004 December, “Current Wisdom”, in The American Spectator, volume 37, number 100, Arlington, V.A.: The American Spectator, LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 84, column 3:

     Our suave President sallies forth with another joyously self-effacing witticism, putting Americans everywhere in mind of Bob Hope at his best or Jay Leno. Yet what is the effect on the misogelastic reporter from AmPros?

   • 2005, Michael Billig, “Superiority Theories: Hobbes and Other Misogelasts”, in Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Laughter, London […]: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 37:

     Misogelastic views are valuable in that they can provide a mirror of contemporary attitudes, reflecting back the positives as negative and vice versa.

Related terms

• agelast
• agelastic
• misogelast

 

References

• “misogelastic, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.