alarmist

[ uh-lahr-mist ]

/ əˈlɑr mɪst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR alarmist ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

adjective

of or like an alarmist.

RELATED WORDS

pessimist, Cassandra, scaremonger

Nearby words

Origin of alarmist

First recorded in 1795–1805; alarm + -ist

Related formsa·larm·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for alarmist

But no longer seen as alarmist, MSF are the heroes with GOAL, an Irish NGO, and the International Medical Corps among others.
In Sierra Leone, the Plague Is Closing in Around Us|Ned Eustace|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I agree, of course, that health advice is alarmist, and increasingly contradictory.
If You're Fat You've Only Got Yourself to Blame|Emma Woolf|April 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They're not, but the alarmist numbers are more likely to get media attention.
Department of Awful Statistics: Are Mass Shootings Really On the Rise?|Megan McArdle|January 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Brzezinski is by no means an alarmist of the “yellow-peril” strain in American history.
Does America Still Matter? Zbigniew Brzezinski’s ‘Strategic Vision’|Harold Evans|July 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The best news for friends of Israel in the AIPAC speech is that Obama shares the alarmist view of an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Obama's Eye for an Eye: Jerusalem for No Iranian Nukes|David Frum|March 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Laying aside all alarmist talk and panicky solutions, let us put that knotty problem in its proper perspective.
Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to 2006|Various
An alarmist by nature, an aristocrat by party, he carried to an unreasonable excess his horror of popular turbulence.
The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 2 (of 4)|Thomas Babington Macaulay
Price had drawn his alarmist conclusions from rough estimates founded on the revenue returns.
Life of Adam Smith|John Rae
He was no alarmist, but he knew only too well the meaning of a big general Indian rising.
The Watchers of the Plains|Ridgewell Cullum
A sudden access of fury on the part of the alarmist at the knocker, spurred them on with quaking hearts.
The Black Bag|Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for alarmist

alarmist

/ (əˈlɑːmɪst) /

noun

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

a person who is easily alarmed

adjective

characteristic of an alarmist

Derived Formsalarmism, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for alarmist

alarmist

"one addicted to sounding alarms," 1793, from alarm (n.) + -ist.