death wish

noun

A desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.

Similar
death instinctThanatos
OriginGerman Todeswunsch →
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Meanings

noundeath wish (plural death wishes)

plural death wishes

  1. oftensarcastichuman sciencesA desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.

    Wait, Kris! What the HELL was that!??!?! Why would NOELLE?? Ask ME?? To do HOMEWORK?? With HER?!?? Deathwish much? Does she WANNA fail?

    2021 September 17, Toby Fox, Deltarune, Windows, level/area: Chapter 2
    1 more example

    Does Trump suffer from some kind of political death wish? If so, we must hope his fall comes quickly. It is hard to think of any precedent for such a calamitous display of insensitivity, historical ignorance and uncomprehending political stupidity.

    2017 August 20, “The Observer view on Donald Trump’s presidency”, in The Observer

Synonyms & antonyms

noun(psychoanalysis) an unconscious urge to die

Similar
death instinctThanatos
Broader
urgeimpulse
Also see
death instinctthanatos

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. GermanTodeswunsch
  2. Englishdeath wish

From death + wish. Calque of German Todeswunsch.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic تَمَنِي اَلْمَوْت
  • تَمَنِي اَلْمَوْت (tamanī l-mawt)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Chinese Mandarin 死願 /死愿, 找死
  • 死願 /死愿 (sǐyuàn)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
  • 找死 (zhǎosǐ)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Danish dødsønske
  • dødsønskedesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Dutch doodswens, doodsverlangen
  • doodswensdesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
  • doodsverlangendesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Esperanto mortodeziro
  • mortodezirodesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Finnish kuolemanhalu
  • kuolemanhaludesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
French pulsion de mort
  • pulsion de mortdesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
German Todeswunsch
  • Todeswunschdesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Greek ευχή θανάτου
  • ευχή θανάτου (efchí thanátou)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Hebrew משאלת מוות
  • משאלת מוות (mish'alá mávet)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Hungarian halálvágy
  • halálvágydesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Italian augurio di morte
  • augurio di mortedesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Japanese 死の願望, 自殺願望
  • 死の願望 (shi-no ganbō)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
  • 自殺願望 (jisatsu-ganbō)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Polish życzenie śmierci
  • życzenie śmiercidesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Portuguese pulsão de morte
  • pulsão de mortedesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Russian жа́жда сме́рти
  • жа́жда сме́рти (žážda smérti)desire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Spanish pulsión de muerte
  • pulsión de muertedesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Swedish dödslängtan
  • dödslängtandesire for the death of oneself or of someone else
Cite this entry
APA

death wish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20wish

MLA

“death wish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20wish. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “death wish,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20wish.

Source: death wish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.