masochistic

[ mas-uh-kis-tik, maz‑ ]

adjective

1. Psychiatry. having a condition in which sexual gratification depends on suffering, physical pain, and humiliation.
2. gratified by pain, degradation, deprivation, etc., inflicted on oneself either by one's own actions or the actions of others.
3. tending to be self-destructive.
4. tending to find pleasure in self-denial, submissiveness, degradation, etc.

Other Words From

• masoch·isti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of masochistic¹

masoch(ism) + -istic

Example Sentences

My mind wanted to avoid all that, but my masochistic heart insisted on imagining that family reunion that many times I did not like at all.

From Washington Blade

Now I see everything without colors, withered … I have masochistic instincts and every so often I reread your letter trying to convince myself that you have definitely left and the anguish returns, which at times frees me from its punishment.

From Washington Blade

It’s a great workout, but doing seven miles worth of squats seems a little masochistic.

From Washington Post

“There are people who are more masochistic about it,” he said.

From Washington Post

This is Bey and Nicki at their most lyrically masochistic, and boy, is it a treat.

From The Daily Beast

But there was a lot more to Turner than a masochistic mission to understand the elements.

From The Daily Beast

Total isolation, it seems, is the masochistic goal from the start.

From The Daily Beast

“Everything that is masochistic in the film is me,” said von Trier (via Skarsgard).

From The Daily Beast

He talks to Caitlin Dickson about his masochistic mission, his days as a C- student and what he thinks makes a good education.

From The Daily Beast

In classic times various masochistic phenomena are noted with approval by Ovid.

From Project Gutenberg

Flagellation, more especially in its masochistic form, is sometimes associated with true inversion.

From Project Gutenberg

The masochistic tendency of women, or their desire for subjection to the man they love.

From Project Gutenberg

It would even appear that these people are masochistic, making themselves even more unloved by their gross gastronomical habits.

From Project Gutenberg

Organized monachism furnished a more convenient outlet for the stronger masochistic impulses than Chiliasm and so superseded it.

From Project Gutenberg