evilist

English

Etymology

evil +‎ -ist

Noun

evilist (plural evilists)

1. (rare) An evil person; one who performs evil acts or promotes an evil ideology.
   • 1910, Thomas Dreier, Heroes of Insurgency, page 82:

     To the evilists he is cold, pitiless, and insatiable. He seems to be justice incarnate.

   • 2009, Steven S. Schneiderman, Wastelanders, page 72:

     Louie Leppedimay was getting dried out; thirsty from the excitement of maybe working for a company that ran evilists into the gaping jaws of justice.

   • 2010(?), Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters, Penguin (→ISBN):

     Practically speaking—that evilists should go down with the ship, […] great long letter you mistake me for an evilist because I am no longer a professed dovist.

   • 2019, O.Y. ven Ghaydle, America and the Entire World Need YOU to Know to Spread the Word:

     We must not sell our souls to any 'god' of this world. The evilists will be punished most harshly.

2. One who studies or believes in evil.
   • 1987, ZAA - Volumes 35-36, page 10:

     William Golding is held to be the arch-evilist. His declared aim is to reveal the human potential for wickedness so as to arm man against his own worst self.

   • 1922, The Sphere of the National Government in Judicial Administration in China, page 8:

     The Evilist School. In contrast with the Chinese Locke who maintains human nature is good and pure, there was a Chinese Hobbes, Hsun Tze.

   • 2020, Joe Milburn, Evilism and the a priori:

     I argue that while there are credible a priori grounds for believing that the first cause is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good, there are no credible a priori grounds for believing that the first cause is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-evil. Because of this, theists have a reason for explaining away the a posteriori evidence against theism. The hypothetical evilist, on the other hand, does not.

Related terms

• lesser evilist