Sunday Word: Agelast

[sallymn]

agelast [aj-uh-lahst]

noun:
a person who never laughs

Examples:

And in the Essay on Comedy he did at least remind us that in scholarship and in literature, or indeed in any of the circumstances of our mortal careers, the final word should not be with the agelast, the one who never laughs. (Richard Franko Goldman, American Scholar, Winter 1966–67)

The agelasts (those who never laugh) often seem keen to use the wonders of social media to howl down anyone who dares to laugh at other cultures. (Robert Phiddian, What good is humour without some hurt?, Khaleej Times, December 2017)

An agelast is one who never laughs; a hypergelast is one who laughs too much. We lack a word for those who only laugh at their own jokes. (Susie Dent, December 2014)

"I'm not sure is she’s an agelast because she is grumpy or because she’s vain." (Shan Williams, Word of the Day, June 2016)

Origin:

Borrowed from Middle French agelaste (Rabelais), borrowed from Greek agélastos 'not laughing, grave, gloomy,' a- + gelastós, verbal adjective of gelân 'to laugh' (Merriam-Webster)