hedonist

[heed-n-ist] /ˈhid n ɪst/
noun
1.
a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification.
adjective
2.
Also, hedonistic. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a hedonist or hedonism.
Origin
1855-60; see hedonism, -ist
Related forms
hedonistically, adverb
nonhedonistic, adjective
nonhedonistically, adverb
unhedonistic, adjective
unhedonistically, adverb
Examples from the web for hedonist
  • In his personal life and his screen roles, he cultivated an image as a hedonist who defied social conventions.
  • It would fit right in at a hedonist's breakfast table.
  • Fair enough: hedonist impulses and revolutionary aspirations are not necessarily contradictory.
Word Origin and History for hedonist
n.

1822, in reference to the Cyrenaic school of philosophy that deals with the ethics of pleasure, from Greek hedonikos "pleasurable," from hedone "pleasure," related to hedys "sweet," cognate with Latin suavis (see sweet). A hedonist is properly the follower of any ethical system in which some sort of pleasure ranks as the highest good. The Epicurian identifies this pleasure with the practice of virtue.