death wish

American  

noun

1. desire for one's own death or for the death of another.

2. Psychiatry. a suicidal desire, manifested by passivity, withdrawal, and absorption in nihilistic thoughts, that may eventually lead to suicidal behavior.

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death wish British  

noun

1. (in Freudian psychology) the desire for self-annihilation See also Thanatos

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Etymology

Origin of death wish

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

If Evy is virtually alone in a house where strange noises are occurring at all hours, what would possess her to put on noise-canceling headphones, other than a death wish?

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

Carter found that such high-sensation seekers are unequivocal on one point: they do not have a death wish.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

"You would have to have a death wish to go out now," one Iranian journalist reflected.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026

In the Northwest, winter hiking can feel like an exercise in misery at best and a possible death wish at worst, but not in Arizona.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2024

Waking a nest full of pixies is a death wish.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff