What does masochistic mean?
Masochistic means that someone derives pleasure from pain, humiliation, degradation, or the deliberate reversal of a power relationship. The word is usually psychological: it describes a person's interests, desires, fantasies, or behavior, as in a masochistic taste for punishment or humiliation. In literary and everyday criticism, it can also suggest a troubling willingness to place oneself in degrading or painful circumstances, often because the suffering is perceived as intense or authentic. The term comes from the name of the Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose stories prominently featured characters who sought humiliation and suffering. Because the expression can sound clinical or extreme, it is better reserved for clearly established patterns or for strong figurative criticism rather than ordinary discomfort.
adjectiveCharacterized by deriving pleasure from one's own pain, suffering, humiliation, or degradation. It can also describe behavior that seeks or inflicts such suffering for that purpose.
- Relating to or characterized by deriving pleasure from one's own pain, humiliation, or degradation.
- Relating to a cruel or degrading tendency to seek suffering or make another person suffer for one's own gratification.
"His masochistic streak emerged whenever the competition became too easy."
"The novel explores a masochistic relationship built on manipulation and humiliation."
"Her masochistic impulse to take responsibility for every mistake made the situation worse."
The word takes its name from the 19th-century Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose fiction explored people who found pleasure in humiliation and suffering.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does masochistic come from?
The adjective was formed in the 19th century from the name Sacher-Masoch, itself a compound of Sacher and Masoch. It was influenced by the psychological term masochism, which was developed to describe the attraction to pain and humiliation associated with the writer's work. The related English words masochist and masochize follow the same historical and semantic line.
Related word forms
How masochistic is actually used
The term is primarily psychological and literary. In everyday criticism, it may describe an excessive willingness to accept blame or seek humiliation, and it can be used figuratively in that sense.
Easily confused with masochistic
The terms overlap, but masochistic more directly means self-directed sadism, whereas sadomasochistic can refer to practices involving both receiving and inflicting pain.