fatalist

[ feyt-l-ist ]

noun

1. a person who believes that all events are inevitable, so one’s choices and actions make no difference:

   Protest or not, the odds seem stacked against the likelihood of change, so should we be fatalists and go off to the beach instead?

2. Philosophy. a person who advances the idea that all events are naturally predetermined or subject to fate:

   Despite his teaching that class conflict is inevitable, observers contend that Marx was not a fatalist about historical change.

adjective

1. Rare. fatalistic.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fatalist¹

First recorded in 1640–50; fatal(ism) ( def ) + -ist ( def )

Example Sentences

King was a fatalist, resigned to whatever happened, telling aides he had no choice in how he would die, or when.

From The Daily Beast

They didn't want a labourer now, but the Oracle was a vague fatalist, and Mitchell a decided one.

From Project Gutenberg

The old fatalist had accepted the worst, and now he waited for doom to descend.

From Project Gutenberg

So saying, the gloomy fatalist turned from her, and stalked off with sullen composure to the place of confinement allotted to him.

From Project Gutenberg

It is bad to be a fatalist unless one has an incontrovertible belief in one's destiny,—which Hannah had not.

From Project Gutenberg

He was somewhat of a fatalist in his interpretation of affairs and would hang on with the faith that his luck would turn.

From Project Gutenberg