alarmist

[uh-lahr-mist]

noun

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

adjective

1. of or like an alarmist.

alarmist

/ əˈlɑːmɪst /

noun

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

2. a person who is easily alarmed

adjective

1. characteristic of an alarmist

Other Word Forms

• alarmism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of alarmist¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; alarm + -ist

Example Sentences

His recent claims that civil war is “inevitable” in the U.K., or that such a conflict “already began quietly several years ago,” are alarmist and delusional.

Read more on Salon

The lawsuit quotes alarmist and unscientific statements by the Health and Human Services Secretary.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Two years later, observers put his success down to being "less woke", less alarmist about the climate, and generally a more pragmatic politician.

Read more on Barron's

“Nobody’s who’s a credible economist or scientist believes that it is, except a few activists and alarmists.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He also warns against the "alarmist" tone of the debate on climate change, which he says is "riven with irrationality".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• pessimist