# Term for "Unhappy person who wants everyone else to be unhappy"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415 "2004-05-10T04:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/41 "2004-05-10T22:58:09Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > I think the term and profession you’re groping for is “Blues Musician.” I have to disagree. The Blues can be uplifting / good times music. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/42 "2004-05-11T04:23:08Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I have to disagree. The Blues can be uplifting / good times music. Oh, I agree, flickster. Blues lyrics can be funny as hell. ("Nobody loves me but my mama, but she could be jiving, too.) But I also agree with the insight of music legend **Bleeding Gums Murphy** when he told Lisa Simpson, “The Blues is about making a lot of other people feel bad, and making money while you’re at it.” ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/43 "2004-05-11T04:54:46Z")
My sister-in-law. (unfortunately, I’m not kidding!:() The proper term, I think, is “psychic vampire”. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/44 "2004-05-11T05:28:09Z")
[epicaricacy](http://www.onelook.com/?w=epicaricacy&ls=a)? (supposed English version of Schadenfreude) ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/45 "2004-05-11T05:57:15Z")
Another vote for _misanthrope_. It means exactly what the OP says, and is essentially just the old-fashioned way of saying ‘misery guts’. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/46 "2004-05-11T06:26:47Z")
> [@leander](#): > > [epicaricacy](http://www.onelook.com/?w=epicaricacy&ls=a)? > (supposed English version of Schadenfreude) No, as that means “taking pleasure in another’s misfortune”. The OP seems to want someone who is themselves miserable, and who wants to spread that feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/47 "2004-05-11T06:27:50Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > Another vote for _misanthrope_. It means exactly what the OP says, No, it doesn’t. It means “a person who hates or distrusts mankind”, and carries no implication of misery on either side. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/48 "2004-05-11T06:30:50Z")
How about a bit of lateral thinking, folks. What’s a term for the opposite, someone who is happy and wants others to be happy? Pollyanna? If so the opposite might be monoanna. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/49 "2004-05-11T07:08:13Z")
Pollyanna’s literary opposite is Scrooge. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/50 "2004-05-11T19:15:24Z")
> [@mrklutz](#): > > Sucking void of negativity Heh. I wonder how many Dopers are old enough to remember “nattering nabobs of negativity”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415/51 "2004-05-11T23:52:56Z")
> [@Dewey Cheatem Undhow](#): > > Heh. I wonder how many Dopers are old enough to remember “nattering nabobs of negativity”? 🙂 Spiro Agnew.(and how many WHO’s are being uttered?) When he actually said that…with a straight face mind you…how many WHAT’s were uttered? Fun guy, that Spiro. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unhappy-person-who-wants-everyone-else-to-be-unhappy/244415.md?page=2)