naysayer
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of naysayer
Explanation
A naysayer is a person who always says "No." Naysayers are negative and cynical — they aren't much fun to be around. If you respond to every invitation with, "No thanks — I wouldn't have fun anyway," and answer questions about how your day was with a list of complaints, you're a naysayer. It's your negative, pessimistic attitude that makes you a naysayer. In the 1600s a nay-say was a "refusal," from the now less common use of nay to mean "no."
Vocabulary lists containing naysayer
Scrooge, Grinch, and Churl: Wonderful Words for Unpleasant People
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Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words
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Vocabulary from news articles about rescued teenage sailor
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Sky Blues have shown real ambition in the summer and will, along with other newcomers Ipswich Town and Hull City, relish making a nonsense of naysayer predictions such as this one.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
With Disney’s stock hovering just above an 11-month low, one previous naysayer analyst turned bullish, saying it’s ‘historically cheap.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
While guiding Los Angeles on its painful budget recovery, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana often had to be the naysayer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
The feedback for the challenge has been mostly positive, Mr. Prince said, aside from a naysayer who popped into a Facebook discussion group for social media professors.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Masterji Thakur scanned the room, a challenge crackling in the air, daring any naysayer to object.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
