anti-evangelist
|an-ti-e-van-ge-list|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tiˈɛv.ən.dʒə.lɪst/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tiˈev.ən.dʒəl.ɪst/
against enthusiastic promotion
Etymology
'anti-evangelist' is a compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' and the noun 'evangelist'. 'anti-' originates from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against', and 'evangelist' comes from Greek 'euangelion' (εὐαγγέλιον) meaning 'good news' (via Late Latin 'evangelium' and Old French/Late Latin agent-forming suffixes).
'evangelist' entered English via Late Latin 'evangelista' and Old French, ultimately from Greek 'euangelion' meaning 'good news'; the modern compound 'anti-evangelist' is a 20th-century English formation combining the productive prefix 'anti-' with the established noun 'evangelist' to express opposition to evangelism or enthusiastic promotion.
The components originally meant 'against' and 'bringer of good news'; combined as 'anti-evangelist' the term came to mean 'one who is against evangelism' and, by extension in secular contexts, 'one who opposes enthusiastic promotion or hype'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who opposes religious evangelism or the active promotion of a particular faith.
She became known as an anti-evangelist, arguing that missionary work sometimes did more harm than good.
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Noun 2
a person who actively criticizes or warns against the enthusiastic promotion (evangelism) of a product, technology, idea, or movement — often used in business or tech contexts to describe a skeptic of hype.
As an anti-evangelist for the platform, he focused on documenting real-world limitations rather than hype.
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Last updated: 2025/10/27 14:11