finifugal

comparative more finifugal · superlative most finifugal

1. rareAverse to something ending (e.g. a TV series) out of a desire for it to continue on forever.

   I am feeling finifugal, and I have to say goodbye to my dictionaries.

   2013, Mark Forsyth, “Epilogue”, in The Horologicon, London: Icon Books, →ISBN, page 237

   4 more examples

   […] he could hardly remember an instance in which a classical writer referred to the setting sun; the fact was, that they disliked the idea of sunset, and recoiled from the end of everything. Whether he was right—nay, whether he was quite serious in this opinion I am not certain. In modern as well as in ancient times, the finifugal tendency, as we may call it, is apparent.

   1884, Tollemache, Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Arthur, “Recollections of Dean Stanley”, in Safe studies, page 374

   I want my macaroni and cheese, and to eat it too... I think I'm finifugal. I hope it's not terminal.

   2014 February 20, Gus, “My obession is over”, in alt.life.sucks (Usenet)

   Does it matter the meter’s ticking faster? That meter and measure are one; meter and moon and mensesare one; meter and month and meal do the same work, measuring time?And we’re back to shunning the end of anything: finifugal.

   2016, Shepard, Neil, “"Last Resorts"”, in Sewanee Review, volume 124, number 1, pages 17-18

   Dent is an etymologist and infuses the characters in this clever debut mystery with her passion for language, beginning each chapter with a dictionary definition of an obscure word, and leaving the reader feeling a bit finifugal on the final page, not wanting the book to end.

   2025 December 1, Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich, Stop You're Killing Me (blog)