miserabilist

plural miserabilists · alternative 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

   3 more examples

   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

   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

   Synonyms: buzzkill, killjoy, spoilsport, addle-plot, buzzkill, cold fish, curmudgeon, dampener

comparative more miserabilist · superlative most miserabilist · alternative 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