masochist

American  

[mas-uh-kist] / ˈmæs ə kɪst /

noun

1. Psychiatry. a person who has masochism, the condition in which sexual or other gratification depends on one's suffering physical pain or humiliation.

2. a person who is gratified by pain, degradation, etc., that is self-imposed or imposed by others.

3. a person who finds pleasure in self-denial, submissiveness, etc.

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Other Word Forms

• masochistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of masochist

First recorded in 1890–1900; masoch(ism) + -ist

Compare meaning

How does masochist compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sadist vs. masochist

Explanation

If you call someone a masochist, you either mean that they take pleasure in pain, or — perhaps more commonly — that they just seem to. Masochism is an eponym — a word named for a person. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch was an Austrian writer in the nineteenth century who described the gratification he got from his own pain and humiliation. There are many self-proclaimed masochists out there today — and, one would have to imagine, at least as many sadists, those who enjoy inflicting pain on others (from the name of the Marquis de Sade). But these days you're most likely to hear the word used jokingly by someone who doesn't understand another's motivations for doing something painful or difficult: "You're still building that stone wall? What are you, some kind of masochist?"

Example Sentences

But if you are a masochist and insist on watching, certain things are guaranteed in every state-of-the-disunion speech, and Tuesday’s will be no exception.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 24, 2026

Call me a masochist, but what I most loved about Rebecca Gilman’s devastating play was that it tapped into multiple registers of despair: individual, communal, ecological.

From New York Times • Dec. 3, 2023

More importantly, what kind of masochist would want it?

From Salon • Sep. 20, 2023

If you’re that type of masochist, you can dig in Monday on PC.

From Seattle Times • May 11, 2023

Because I am both a glutton and a masochist, my standard complaint, “That was so bad," is always followed by “And there was so little of it!"

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris