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  1. misanthropy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Hatred or mistrust of humankind.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Hatred or dislike of mankind; the habit of distrusting or of taking the worst possible view of human character or motives.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Hatred or dislike of people or mankind.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Hatred of, or dislike to, mankind; -- opposed to philanthropy.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a disposition to dislike and mistrust other people
  2. n. hatred of mankind

Etymologies

  1. From Ancient Greek μισάνθρωπος (misanthrōpos), from μισέω (miseō, "I hate") + ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, "human"). (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “Having been often ill-served on screen, Thompson's literary misanthropy is distilled in this tale of a psychopath who batters and kills those who love him with utter detachment; no wonder Stanley Kubrick called the book the most believable first-person depiction of the psychopathic mind.”

    The Guardian: Mark Kermode's DVD round-up

  • “I know misanthropy is common, but there’s no reason to just take it all out on smokers. too many steves Says:”

    Matthew Yglesias » LA Contemplates Further Smoking Restrictions

  • “From White Man Can’t Jump to Natural Born Killers to The People vs. Larry Flynt, it’s all been a merry wallow in misanthropy, whether of the self-centered or sociopathic variety.”

    Josh Wolk's Pop Culture Club talks 'Zombieland': Did it have enough brains? | EW.com

  • “This is where love for animals shades off into slight misanthropy, which is also a highly developed English trait.”

    England Made Them

  • “This might, on the lips of a cynic, serve for a formula of that kind of misanthropy which is not more unamiable than it is unscientific.”

    Diderot and the Encyclopædists Volume II.

  • “It saps their noble ambition, assails their health, lowers their estimate of men and their reverence for women, cherishes an eager and aimless rivalry, weakens true feeling, wipes away the bloom of true modesty, and induces an ennui, a satiety, and a kind of dilettante misanthropy, which is only the more monstrous because it is undoubtedly real.”

    The Potiphar Papers

  • “I personally don't want to support or promote a band that espouses intolerant beliefs (beyond a straightforward, fuck-humanity form of misanthropy, which is an equal-opportunity intolerance).”

    Chicago Reader

  • “He is aware that his misanthropy is a problem, so he keeps himself to himself as much as possible.”

    Talking Philosophy

  • “Nor do I find in them the "misanthropy" which he defines at some length.”

    A Study of Hawthorne

  • “Although, from a kind of misanthropy, he wore clothes quite rusty, there was in his whole appearance that which commanded respect.”

    Mysteries of Paris — Volume 02

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. misanthropist
  1. cynicism
  1. cynism

antonyms (2)

Words with the opposite meaning

  1. philanthropy
  1. altruism

hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. unfriendliness
  1. hate
  1. hatred

same context (25)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. homesickness
  2. pessimism
  3. despondency
  4. suggestibility
  5. hypochondria
  1. narrow-mindedness
  2. satiety
  3. carnality
  4. disillusionment
  5. world-weariness
  1. fatalism
  2. alcoholism
  3. voluptuousness
  4. acerbity
  5. dogmatism
  1. egotism
  2. superciliousness
  3. lasciviousness
  4. self-assertion
  5. mouldiness
  1. self-satisfaction
  2. desperation
  3. avarice
  4. mistrust
  5. libertinism

reverse dictionary (3)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. misanthropia
  1. philanthropy
  1. misanthropic

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Lists

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Comments

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  • missanthropist Or rawther, a singular feminine being bent upon arduous and awkward study of humankind? Jul 16, 2008

  • bilby You probably listed schadenfreude too, tankexmortis? Jul 16, 2008

  • tankexmortis Something about gross misanthropy has appealed to me since I was very small. Jan 17, 2007

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‘misanthropy’ has been looked up 2480 times, loved by 8 people, added to 44 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 21.