fatalist en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree English fatal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English fatalist From fatal + -ist.
Meanings
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One who maintains that all things happen by inevitable necessity; a person who believes in fatalism.
“Maybe the problem is that you’re a romantic,” says my former lover-slash-friend-slash-male-sensitivity-reader. “And maybe so are the other fatalists.”
2025 July 21, Jean Garnett, “The Trouble With Wanting Men”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 21 Jul 2025:....it is that, with every day, my love for you increases—though that would seem to be almost an impossibility. Why should I not become a fatalist? Remember how, on the third day that we ascended the Shlangenberg, I was moved to whisper in your ear: 'Say but the word, and I will leap into the abyss.' Had you said it, I should have leapt. Do you not believe me?"
1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter V, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gambler_(1867)/V):[Nick] Bostrom, the philosopher, expressed a sort of resignation about the AI future when we spoke. He used to call himself a “fretful optimist,” he said, but now he’s a “moderate fatalist.”
2026 April 3, Matteo Wong, Lila Shroff, “Silicon Valley Is in a Frenzy Over Bots That Build Themselves”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fatalists | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
fatalistically · fatalism · fatalistic
Translations (22)
vo jifätiman (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · fi kohtalonuskoinen (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · ca fatalista (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · io fatalistulo (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · bg фаталист (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · io fatalistino (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · es fatalista (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · fi fatalisti (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · de Fatalist (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · it fatalista (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · cmn 宿命论者 (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · de Fatalistin (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · pt fatalista (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · gl fatalista (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · vo hifätiman (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · pa ਭਾਗਵਾਦੀ (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · af fatalis (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · vo fätiman (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · fr fataliste (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · nl fatalist (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · io fatalisto (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism) · pl fatalista (fatalist, person who believes in fatalism)