miserabilist

noun, adj — 2 senses

miserabilist

noun

/ˈmɪzəɹəbəlɪst/

Etymology Variant of miserable + -ist, with interconsonant -i- added due to difficulty or lack of flow in pronouncing miserablist.

1

One who is unhappy, or extols being miserable as a virtue; a philosopher of pessimism.

  • Gissing is never more of a miserabilist than when trying to be light-hearted.1991, Anthony Powell, Under review: further writings on writers, 1946-1989, page 242:
  • An old, failed actor who lived on his own, he never had friends dropping by, because he was a bedridden inconsiderate miserabilist.2006, Iain Sinclair, London: city of disappearances, page 314:
2 more examples
  • 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.2009 February 7, Lucy Mangan, “Lucy Mangan: This week”, in The Guardian:
  • She said center-right French politicians have started disparaging climate activists as “miserabilists”, […]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:
Related terms
miserablism, miserabilism, miserablist

miserabilist

adj

Etymology Variant of miserable + -ist, with interconsonant -i- added due to difficulty or lack of flow in pronouncing miserablist.

1

Miserable, pessimistic.

  • This is a radical difference between the naturalism of the miserabilist approach, and the naturalism practiced by the Romanian New Wave.2014, Doru Pop, Romanian New Wave Cinema: An Introduction, McFarland, →ISBN, page 61:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.