timonism
/ˈtaɪmənɪzəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A form of bitter misanthropy, a despair leading to hatred or contemptuous rejection of mankind, like Timon of Athens.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "This most cruel betrayal led him to Timonism."
- "His "Timonism" scarcely shows itself, except against the priesthood, for which he has very little respect."
- "Then how could it be otherwise, than that an incipient Timonism should slide into Pierre, when he considered all the disgraceful inferences to be derived from such a fact."
- "Men are stuffy little fellows. Their manliness bores me—it is almost universal, and humanity is very rare. … the poor things keep on struggling in a web of phantoms. They play with dolls all their lives. It's no good talking to them about wisdom and beauty. They have a complete system. There's even a doll Hell. This is not Timonism, I am an optimist. They are saved, most of them by their guts. A doll has no guts."
- "Cynicism is often contrasted with "Timonism" (cf. Shakespeare's Timon of Athens). Cynics saw what people could be & were angered by what they had become; Timonists felt humans were hopelessly stupid & uncaring by nature & so saw no hope for change."
- "Pay no attention to his Timonisms; it's a pose."
Etymology
From Timon + -ism, after the 5th-century-BCE person Timon of Athens (as described by Plutarch, Lucian, and Aristophanes), possibly by way of William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens (c. 1607). Used in the Westminster Review (maybe after the earlier Timonist) in an 1840 review. Erroneously attributed to Herman Melville, who popularized it later in 1852.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtaɪmənɪzəm/
- British English: /ˈtaɪmənɪzəm/