masochist

[ mas-uh-kist ]

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.

Other Words From

• masoch·istic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of masochist¹

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

Example Sentences

No, they’re not masochists—it’s because witnessing even the most nonsensical takes within any debate is interesting and can provide fresh points of view you hadn’t even considered.

From Popular-Science

“Y’all are into kink hiking—masochists,” the songwriter Laura Veirs recently quipped when I sent her a picture of Tina wading in the swamps of Big Cypress.

From Outside Online

There are masochists who are strictly pain-seeking for the sensation of it, but, in my experience, there are so, so many more who use pain as a tool to feel something else.

From Popular-Science

I am feeling like a masochist, hanging out with him wishing for more, although I really enjoy our time together.

From Washington Post

Been dying to see that powerful sexual masochist woo and whip that mousy college student?

From The Daily Beast

You either have to be a masochist or have an acute Messiah complex.

From The Daily Beast

Corporal punishment with a beneficial object does not satisfy the true masochist.

From Project Gutenberg

Rousseau, in his "Confessions," reveals the sexual feelings of the masochist.

From Project Gutenberg