Doomsdayers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who predict catastrophic events and the end of the world
2. People who espouse apocalyptic fear or foreboding, especially in societal contexts
3. Those who promote or believe in a pending crisis that drastically alters life as we know it

Etymology: "Doomsdayer" is the plural form of "doomsdayer," so the core story belongs to "doomsday." That word began in Old English as "domes dæg," meaning "day of judgment," with "dom" referring to judgment or sentence and "dæg" to day. Its association with the end of the world comes from the Christian idea of a final reckoning, when the dead are judged. Over time the phrase lost its capital letters and its literal sense, and came to name any catastrophe that seems to threaten everything. The suffix "-er" attached to "doomsday" marks a person who does a particular thing, so a doomsdayer is one who forecasts or champions such a catastrophe. The word is a plain, transparent formation: an existing noun with an agent suffix, built to name people whose outlook centres on imminent ruin.

Synonyms: apocalypticists, prophets, forecasters, pessimists, alarmists

Antonyms: optimists, hopefuls, realists, believers, positivists