misanthropy

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μισανθρωπία (misanthrōpía), from μισάνθρωπος (misánthrōpos), from μῖσος (mîsos, hatred) + ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, human). The word is analysable as miso- + -anthropy.

Noun

misanthropy (countable and uncountable, plural misanthropies)

  1. A negative view of the entire human race. This may express itself as, e.g., distrust, dislike, hate, or contempt.
    • 1817, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam, Author's Preface
      Hence gloom and misanthropy have become the characteristics of the age in which we live, the solace of a disappointment that unconsciously finds relief only in the wilful exaggeration of its own despair.
    • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
      According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

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