extinctionist

extinctionist noun: an advocate of extinctionism.

Noun

extinctionist (plural extinctionists)

An advocate of extinctionism.
- As to whether animals that cannot be domesticated are worth preserving is a question I will not discuss here. But there is this much to be said, in opposition to the extinctionist, that wild life, placed on the lowest basis, has certainly a commercial value which should not be overlooked.1938, Professor R. B. Mowar, The Nineteenth Century and After 1938-10: Volume 124, Issue 740, Twentienth Century, page 30
- If we are to regain a sensitivity to the reality of non-sensory facts, including that of life after death; if we wish to escape some of the problems of dualism while affirming many of dualism’s strengths; if we want to affirm the benefits of a naturalistic view of the origin of mind from matter...1989, Stephen T. Davis, Death and Afterlife, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 118
A player who plays a roguelike game with the additional challenge of killing all creatures to extinction.
- What an Extinctionist tries to do is completely eliminate as many kinds of monsters from the game as possible, either through genocide if it's available, or from just depleting all the kinds of monsters that can be produced.2020, John Harris, Exploring Roguelike Games, CRC Press, →ISBN

extinctionist (comparative more extinctionist, superlative most extinctionist)

Relating to extinctionism.
- Hamas has embraced the nihilism of the suicide bomber, of rockets fired blindly into towns, and the nihilism of the extinctionist policy towards Israel.2011 February 20, Harriet Sherwood, quoting Ian McEwan, “Ian McEwan attacks 'great injustice' in Israel”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- Although Last Ones Left Alive courts comparison with Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven, it doesn’t deliver that novel’s transcendent sense of art’s absurd persistence. It lacks the extinctionist glee of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy.2019 March 23, Sarah Ditum, “Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff review – post-apocalyptic road trip”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

It is the merit of his interpretation of process thought that it rises above the extinctionist interpretation and considers the data of religious life in a non-reductionist manner.1989, Stephen T. Davis, Death and Afterlife, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 118:
The Voluntary Human Extinctionists among you would no doubt be thrilled.2022, Dean Rickles, Life Is Short: An Appropriately Brief Guide to Making It More Meaningful, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 17:

From extinction + -ist.

What does extinctionist mean?: Extinctionist means an advocate of extinctionism.
How do you use extinctionist in a sentence?: It is the merit of his interpretation of process thought that it rises above the extinctionist interpretation and considers the data of religious life in a non-reductionist manner.
What part of speech is extinctionist?: Extinctionist can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of extinctionist?: The plural of extinctionist is extinctionists.

Adapted from Wiktionary: extinctionist (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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