• Today's Word

Hedonist

🔊 Listen to the word Hedonist

HEE-duh-nist

Definition

(noun) A person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure and sensory enjoyment is the highest good and chief aim of life

Example

A self-proclaimed hedonist, she planned her entire sabbatical around exceptional food, warm weather, and long afternoons with nothing to do.

Word Origin

Hedonist derives from the Greek hedone, meaning “pleasure” or “delight,” from hedys (“sweet”). The philosophical school of Hedonism was formally developed in ancient Greece — most notably by Epicurus, who argued that pleasure, properly understood, was the foundation of a good life. The word entered English in the 19th century as both a philosophical term and a descriptor for those who live purely for sensory gratification.

Fun Fact

Despite its reputation as a word for pure indulgence, hedonism has a surprisingly nuanced philosophical history. Epicurus — often credited as hedonism’s founding father — actually advocated for simple pleasures: good food shared with friends, intellectual conversation, and freedom from anxiety. It was his rival school, the Cyrenaics, who argued for maximizing immediate bodily pleasure at all costs. The modern connotation of hedonism as pure excess owes more to the Cyrenaics than to Epicurus, who would likely have been appalled by the comparison.