Rapturist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A individual who actively seeks joyful and ecstatic moments often linked to spiritual awakening or artistic expression
2. A person deeply engaged in the pursuit of blissful experiences, typically inspired by spiritual or creative revelations
3. A person who passionately seeks out moments of intense joy and ecstasy, usually in connection with spiritual enlightenment or artistic creativity

Etymology: "Rapturist" is a plain formation: the noun "rapture" with the suffix "-ist," which marks a person who practises or is devoted to something. Rapture itself came into English from Medieval Latin "raptura," a noun built on the Latin verb "rapere," meaning "to seize" or "snatch away," which also gave English "rape" in its original sense of seizing. The idea behind the word is thus of being carried off out of oneself, which explains why rapture took on the sense of ecstatic joy. Adding "-ist" to rapture produced a word for someone who pursues that state deliberately, as a kind of habit or calling rather than a passing feeling. The term is applied to people who court intense joy through spiritual practice or artistic work, and it names the seeking itself rather than the experience.

Synonyms: enthusiast, devotee, fervent admirer, zealot, aficionado

Antonyms: detractor, critic, opponent, disbeliever, cynic