death wish

See also: deathwish

English

Etymology

Calque of German Todeswunsch.

Noun

death wish (plural death wishes)

1. (psychology) A desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.
   • 2017 August 20, “The Observer view on Donald Trump’s presidency”, in The Observer‎^[1]:

     Does Trump suffer from some kind of political death wish? If so, we must hope his fall comes quickly. It is hard to think of any precedent for such a calamitous display of insensitivity, historical ignorance and uncomprehending political stupidity.

   • 2023 September 24, HarryBlank, “Working Wonders”, in SCP Foundation‎^[2], archived from the original on 25 May 2024:

     "I reiterate: outside is death." Brenda squeezed her hand. "You won't make it far by yourself."

     "So go with her." Reynders made it sound like nothing more than advising a trip to the grocery store.

     "What about how I spent the last few months hiding in a water tank suggests to you that I have a death wish?" Brenda's voice was raised, but she wasn't facing the window. She was facing Udo. For the first time, she wasn't only worried about herself.

Translations

desire for the death of oneself or of someone else

• Arabic: تَمَنِي اَلْمَوْت m (tamanī l-mawt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 死願／死愿 (sǐyuàn)

• Danish: dødsønske n
• Dutch: doodswens (nl) m, doodsverlangen (nl) n
• Esperanto: mortodeziro
• Finnish: kuolemanhalu
• French: pulsion de mort (fr) f
• German: Todeswunsch (de) m
• Greek: ευχή θανάτου f (efchí thanátou)
• Hebrew: משאלת מוות (mish'alá mávet)
• Hungarian: halálvágy (hu)
• Italian: augurio di morte m
• Japanese: 死の願望 (しのがんぼう, shi-no ganbō), 自殺願望 (じさつがんぼう, jisatsu-ganbō)
• Polish: życzenie śmierci n
• Portuguese: pulsão de morte (pt) f
• Russian: жа́жда сме́рти f (žážda smérti)
• Spanish: pulsión de muerte f
• Swedish: dödslängtan c