Savagist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who advocates or supports harsh, brutal, or uncivilized behavior or practices ; someone who expresses admiration or promotion of primitive or wild ways of life ; an individual favoring or glorifying fierceness and lack of refinement
2. One who champions savage or barbaric actions or customs ; an adherent to the glorification of untamed, wild states ; a proponent of primitive or fierce conduct and ideologies
3. An individual endorsing cruel, fierce, or uncultivated habits ; a supporter of rough, savage lifestyles or attitudes ; someone who promotes or celebrates raw, wild traits and behaviors

Etymology: "Savagist" is formed from "savage" and the suffix "-ist," which marks a person who holds or practices a particular doctrine or attitude. Put together, it names someone who admires or celebrates brutality. The suffix comes through French from Greek and Latin, so it is a very old component, but this particular combination is a transparent formation rather than a traditional inherited term. "Savage" has an unexpected root. It comes from Latin "silvaticus," meaning "of the woods," from "silva," wood. Vulgar Latin shifted it to "salvaticus," which passed into Old French as "salvage" and "sauvage." The sense moved from "belonging to the forest" to "wild," and then to "uncivilized" and "cruel." Its doublet "salvage," which kept the older sense of rescuing goods from wreck, comes from the same source.

Synonyms: barbarian, brute, wild person, uncultured person, primitive person

Antonyms: civilized person, cultured person, refined person, sophisticate, gentleperson