hedonist

[heed-n-ist]

noun

1. a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification.

adjective

1. Also hedonistic of, relating to, or characteristic of a hedonist or hedonism.

Other Word Forms

• hedonistically adverb
• nonhedonistic adjective
• nonhedonistically adverb
• unhedonistic adjective
• unhedonistically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of hedonist¹

First recorded in 1855–60; hedonism, -ist

Example Sentences

When I’m dreaming up new oatmeal combinations, I start where any self-respecting hedonist would: the jam aisle of a fancy little corner store.

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He keeps insisting the childless are “sociopathic,” painting them as selfish hedonists, all in a tone of barely concealed envy — as if he senses they are getting away with something.

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Sold in a shiny glass bottle and advertised on TV, immortality has been commodified in the hedonist dystopia of “Divinity,” the startling new film from writer-director Eddie Alcazar.

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“Let Mary run and be as hedonist as she pleases; let Tommy roll in the mud,” a Massachusetts observer wrote.

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As a teenager, he was a “very successful hedonist,” he joked.

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