We live in a time when society and the state of certain matters tend to bring out the worst in people. Bringing forward their worst fears, putting them in the worst situations, and basically leaving them teetering on the edge, where a simple nudge is enough to push them over the edge and they can react in many ways. One of such ways, sadly, is what the title describes – wanting to die.
Now while such a thing is not considered to be socially accepted, it is quite rampant and happens at an alarming rate, regretfully.
As for what words can be used to describe people in this category, we have a few below. Take a look.
10 Words for Someone Who Wants to Die
For a person with a death wish, so to speak, there are many ways one could refer to them. Although most of them should not be used for a, here are a few ways you could describe them or a few words a person could use to describe them:
- Suicidal Character
- Life’s Enemy
- Euthanasia Candidate
- Self-destructive
- Necromaniac
- Memento Mori
- Adrenaline Junkie
- Depressed
- Cupio Dissolvi
- Nihilist
Points to Remember
- A nihilist is someone who doesn’t see a point in anything anyone does since they believe it will be useless.
- Someone who is depressed is mostly exposed to thoughts that would make them lose the will to live.
- The term “Euthanasia” literally means “good death” or can be liberally said to mean “to put out of misery”.
1. Suicidal Character
This is usually the first thing that comes to anyone’s mind when the topic of someone wanting death comes up. One reason would be that no regular person, regardless of how bad their day is, would seriously come out with a will to just die.
It would usually take a certain pattern of thought and a certain viewpoint over time to seriously consider thinking of putting an end to one’s life.
2. Enemy To Life
This more easily depicts a person who sees life, not as a blessing or something to cherish because it treats them well, but instead as something to hate, something to treat with disdain, and something that has mistreated or betrayed them.
Ask anyone who wants to die to tell you why they do, and a lot of them—if not the majority of them—will reply simply with, “I hate life”.
3. Euthanasia Candidate
Also known as “Mercy Killing”, it is. a practice where a person who is determined to be in a state where they can no longer function as a regular person or is unresponsive to Medicare or in general, is eased into death on purpose to end their suffering and that of those around them. Mostly mentioned with terminally ill patients who just want peace.
It can be requested by the candidate or if unable, by the close family of said candidate. Hence it is a great way to refer to a person who wants to die.
4. Self-destructive
Very self-explanatory, the term, “self-destructive”, refers to anything—or as in this case, anyone—with a habitual nature of causing one’s own destruction by actions or inactions.
A person in this category can be classified as having a habit of making decisions that harm them and saying things that would normally tear them down. Such people can also come out with a need for death, and it is only fitting to refer to them as self-destructive.
5. Necromaniac
This is a moniker that refers to those who are obsessed with death. In the same vein, an individual who is obsessed with death may want to die to experience what it would be like—as a fantasy of sorts—and has no pleasure in being alive.
A necromaniac is obsessed with death in general and not just their own, so it would probably be all they think about and all they want to talk about. But then it would evolve to wondering what it would be like to be in that state, how it would be to fall, to never again rise. So depending on what they see in death and how deeply fascinated they are about the phenomenon, you could refer to them as necromaniacs.
6. Memento Mori
This is derived from a Latin term that means “Remember that you must die”. It simply reminds us that death is inevitable and it has no respect for persons, regardless of who they are. It makes us conscious of our deeds and relations with others.
It is usually represented with paintings of a skull, clocks, flowers, fruit, etc, and these things represent death or a countdown to its time, or a show that beauty and grandeur will fade to dust afterward.
Calling someone this would mean they are their own reminders of their own death and that they even wish for it to come.
7. Adrenaline Junkie
This is more on the side of sarcasm. It refers to a person who always does things that could put them six feet under the ground, and even after a plethora of near-death experiences, they still go back and do something more intense.
Such people who put people’s hearts on constant skips due to their habits can also be said to be people who want to die.
While this is more playful and relies more on the premise that the one being referred to does not actually want to die.
Things that can be classified as activities of this set of folks would include bungee jumping off a tall cliff, swinging above ravines, pranking law enforcement by pretending to be heinous criminals, etc…
Anyone who does these can easily be asked if they actually want to die, but it is simply done in the name of fun and adventure.
So, while this name takes its place on this list of words for a person who wants to die, it is used mostly in a different context than the rest.
8. Depressed
Very easily, being depressed is one of the world’s greatest contributions to the morbid feeling of wanting death.
Depression is a serious mental health issue that usually stems from either hormonal activity (mostly during puberty and a short while afterward), or due to circumstances or emotional matters that need to be resolved.
A person who is depressed is mostly in a terrible state of mind, like viewing the world around them through a thoroughly cracked lens.
Riddled with low self-esteem, self-hatred, doubt, anxiety, trust issues, and lack of faith in what life has to offer, adding all these up, it will be easy to find why they would see death as the easy way out. They simply long for a way out of the baggage they carry around. Which is why the name is appropriate.
9. Cupio Dissolvi
The phrase literally translates to mean”I wish to be dissolved”. Hailing from the Christian longing to leave the physical and dwell with Christ in the spiritual, it has taken on new meanings over the years that all basically translate to denying the world, rejecting one reality, and accepting one encompassing death.
10. Nihilist
In particular, this happens to be one of the most adequate names for one who wants to die. A nihilist is one who sees everything as merely fleeting, vanity.
They see all efforts as culminating in death or non-existence and so ask the question, “Why bother?”. If a depressed person sees life through cracked lenses, nihilists see life through a blackened lens, where there is nothing but blackness as far as the eye can see (which usually isn’t very far).
Nihilism is not exactly all bad, for some it drives them to find purpose and place for themselves where they can fit in. To write their own narratives.
But in cases like this, nihilism can take a turn for the worse. A nihilist would find no emotion worth having except for anguish and despair, which could just lead to a wish to be free of it sooner, rather than later.
These are a few of many words for someone who wants to die. This is something that could happen for many reasons as previously mentioned, but such thoughts should not be kept in mind, nor entertained.
They are thoughts for one who has given up on themselves and that should not be your tale. If you have such thoughts or know anyone with such thoughts, attempt talking to someone or getting them to talk to someone, and finding something productive to channel your energy into.
And with the above-given names, you could easily use those to make things easy for yourself in conversation when you wish to refer to them.
Even though death is inevitable, life is still very beautiful and should be treasured no matter what. Both one’s own life, and the life of others around you. One should not let the wish to die linger in their thoughts, lest they miss out on all the great opportunities life has to offer.
