Fatalist: meaning, definitions and examples

Use this word when referring to someone who believes that all events are predetermined and inevitable. This term can have a negative connotation when implying passivity or resignation to fate.

• He is such a fatalist, he doesn't believe he can change anything about his future.
• Her fatalist outlook makes her feel there's no point in trying to improve her life.

Use this term when referring to someone who believes that every event or state of affairs, including human decisions, is the result of preceding events in accordance with the laws of nature. It usually has a more scientific or philosophical nuance compared to 'fatalist'.

• As a determinist, he argues that free will is an illusion since all actions are determined by prior causes.
• The determinist perspective suggests that every action is a consequence of a chain of events.

Use this term primarily in religious contexts, when talking about someone who believes that all events, especially salvation or damnation, have been predetermined by a divine power.

• He grew up in a predestinarian church that taught everything in life is preordained by God.
• The preacher's predestinarian view meant he believed that our destinies were already set by a higher power.

Similar to 'predestinarian', this term is used when discussing the belief in predestination, often in religious or theological contexts.

• As a predestinist, she believes that our futures are determined by God's will.
• The debate between free will and predestinist views has been ongoing for centuries.