alarmist

American  

[uh-lahr-mist] / əˈlɑr mɪst /

noun

1. a person who tends to raise alarms, especially without sufficient reason, as by exaggerating dangers or prophesying calamities.

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adjective

1. of or like an alarmist.

alarmist British  

/ əˈlɑːmɪst /

noun

1. a person who alarms or attempts to alarm others needlessly or without due grounds

2. a person who is easily alarmed

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adjective

1. characteristic of an alarmist

Other Word Forms

• alarmism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of alarmist

First recorded in 1795–1805; alarm + -ist

Example Sentences

Alarmist reactions to bad weather are a well-worn London tradition: Heat waves bring warnings of buckled railroad tracks; a light coating of snow paralyzes the streets.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2021

Alarmist thinking is not justified -- unless of course it is news click-bait.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2016

Alarmist writing may hasten the next slump and distract attention from a more realistic and important development, which we might call multiplicity.

From Nature • Oct. 13, 2015

Excitedly brandishing a copy of the MacDonald declaration, Alarmist Churchill tried to link with "such weakness" the sharp break in the British pound.*

From Time Magazine Archive

Alarmist and suspicious, it encourages accusations, and, for lack of plots to discover, it invents them.

From The French Revolution - Volume 1 by Durand, John

Related Words

• pessimist