hedonist

American  

[heed-n-ist] / ˈhid n ɪst /

noun

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

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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

Etymology

Origin of hedonist

First recorded in 1855–60; see origin at hedonism, -ist

Explanation

Your parents might want to visit the museum while you want to hike in the forest, but your brother, the hedonist, just wants to lounge by the hotel pool and eat cake. A hedonist values sensual pleasure above all else. Hedonist comes from the Greek word hedone "pleasure" and is related to hedys, which means "sweet." Although this noun did not make its first appearance until 1822, the word was created as a reference to an ancient Greek philosophical system known as the Cyrenaic school. The Cyrenaics taught that pleasure — particularly physical pleasure — is the greatest good. If you need some examples of modern day hedonists, think the many celebrities today who are only famous for going to parties.

Example Sentences

Honorable mention: The Accidental Hedonist, written with flair by one Kate Hopkins.

From Time Magazine Archive

A cosmopolitan on principle, and a convinced disbeliever in the ethics of his day, he comes very near to modern empiricism and especially to the modern Hedonist school.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5 "Arculf" to "Armour, Philip" by Various

"Milicent is a Hedonist," said the guest, and the Oxford scholar brought Aristippus and Epicurus into odd conjunction with a Mississippi Valley breakfast-table.

From The Last Leaf Observations, during Seventy-Five Years, of Men and Events in America and Europe by Hosmer, James Kendall

I do not like," he said once, "to be called a Hedonist.

From Visions and Revisions A Book of Literary Devotions by Powys, John Cowper

On the other side of the cedar, that incorrigible Hedonist, the crumbling dial, told you in Latin that he only marked the shining hours.

From The Convert by Robins, Elizabeth