sadist
Americannoun
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Psychiatry. a person who has the condition of sadism, in which one receives sexual gratification from causing pain and degradation to another.
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a person who enjoys being cruel.
Usage
What is a sadist? The word sadist is used to refer to a person who derives sexual satisfaction from other people’s pain and suffering, especially when they are the one inflicting that pain.Sadist is also used more generally to refer to a person who enjoys being cruel to others, as in My boss is such a sadist that he enjoys making us work late and not paying us for it. The state or condition of being a sadist or engaging in such practices is called sadism. The adjective form is sadistic. Both terms can be used either specifically or generally.In the context of psychology, the word sadism is used to refer to a disorder in which a person derives sexual pleasure from other people’s pain in a way that harms themselves or harms others without others’ consent. In casual use, such a person may be referred to as a sadist, but like any other disorder, it is usually preferred and recommended to use person-first language, as in a person with a sadism disorder.The word sadist is often contrasted (or confused) with the word masochist, which refers to a person who gets sexual gratification from being on the receiving end of pain or humiliation, rather than from causing it. Masochism is considered a psychological disorder if the person who engages in such practices experiences distress (such as guilt or anxiety) during them or is unable to otherwise function as a healthy person.The term sadomasochism combines both terms to refer to sexual practices in which one person is sexually gratified by inflicting pain and the other person is sexually gratified by being the receiver of pain. It is popularly abbreviated as S&M or SM (which appears in the related abbreviation BDSM).Example: I’m starting to think my teacher is some kind of sadist who enjoys torturing students with homework.
Etymology
Origin of sadist
Compare meaning
How does sadist compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Asked why he used other insults including "scumbag, grooming, homophobic, sadist", Mr Linehan replied: "I don't think there's anything lower than a man who bullies a woman."
From BBC
On Wednesday, chief prosecutor Ute Lindemann described Brückner as a "dangerous, psychopathic sadist" and said he should be placed in preventive detention after serving his sentence.
From BBC
"Maybe we should just stop trying to define someone’s interests from afar, and labeling them as sadists when they make a choice that we find incomprehensible."
From Salon
Fromm covers much of this ground again, analyzing Heinrich Himmler and Josef Stalin as case studies of the sadist driven by the need to dominate.
From Salon
My parents think I’m a sadist, just for doing all the work that I do at once.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
