Word
jeremiah
Phoneticsjeremi·ah
/ˌdʒɛɹəˈmaɪə/
Definitions
01a prophet of doom
n. someone who is very pessimistic and always warns that something bad or disastrous will happen in the future.
n. a person who habitually prophesies doom or is pessimistic about the state of society and its future. Derived from the biblical prophet known for his lamentations.
“Don't be such a jeremiah; the economy is actually starting to improve.”
“The editorial dismissed him as a mere jeremiah, arguing that his dire predictions of environmental collapse were unsupported by current data.”
Literary
Usage
Often used with the indefinite article 'a' when referring to a person.
Synonyms
02biblical figure
n. a famous prophet from the Bible who wrote about the troubles of his people.
n. a major Hebrew prophet of the seventh and sixth centuries BC; also the name of the Old Testament book containing his prophecies.
“In Sunday school, we learned about the life and warnings of Jeremiah.”
“Scholars often analyze the Book of Jeremiah to understand the political climate of Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege.”
Etymology
From Latin Jeremias, from Ancient Greek Ἰερεμίας (Ieremías), from Hebrew יִרְמְיָה (yirm'yá, “Jeremiah”, literally “Yahweh exalt”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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