Mind & EmotionGreek → English
Misanthropy
/mɪsˈænθrəpi/noun
A settled dislike or distrust of people in general.
The Greek roots
μῖσος
mîsos
hatred
ἄνθρωπος
ánthrōpos
human being
Literally: “hatred of humankind”
The story of the word
The Greeks had a stock figure for it. Timon of Athens was the proverbial man-hater long before Shakespeare, and Menander built a whole comedy, the Dyskolos, around a farmer who wants everyone off his land. Plato uses μισανθρωπία in the Phaedo and diagnoses it as disappointment: it comes from trusting people completely without knowing them, then being let down. Philanthropy is the exact opposite word, built on the same second half.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
philanthropymisogynyanthropologyanthropomorphic
In a sentence
His misanthropy was mostly performance; he cooked for the whole street at Christmas.
Two hours in the arrivals hall will teach anyone a little misanthropy.