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

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From BBC

An attack on him was a "death wish by the attacker" he said, and he thanked Congress for approving more money for the Secret Service.

From BBC

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

I don’t have some kind of death wish.

From Seattle Times