killjoy

noun

ˈkil-ˌjȯi How to pronounce killjoy (audio)
Definition of killjoynext
as in spoilsport
a person who spoils the pleasure of others his perpetually negative attitude made him a real killjoy when others were trying to have fun

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of killjoy Stay a while Another eclipse killjoy? — Maya Silver, Outside, 21 Oct. 2025 Nauseatingly innocent and a self-righteous killjoy, April seems to have existed solely for the purpose of making everyone else on Grey's Anatomy look worlds more interesting. — Marc Snetiker, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Oct. 2025 The Civil War, which is jeopardizing his presidency, has turned him into an utter killjoy. — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025 Without being a complete spoiler-lobbing killjoy, this is a story heavily marinated in trauma, with an emphasis on two parties’ checkered past in particular. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for killjoy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for killjoy
  1. spoilsport
  2. cynic
  3. drag
  4. complainer
  5. bore
  6. grinch
  7. crab
Noun
  • The first thing Sweetpea does, after ditching her spoilsport colleague at the hotel, is pay a visit to SwiftGC, a payment processor recently acquired by Tender.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Granted, this might simply be an old-fashioned spoilsport way to view the market.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2026
Definition of spoilsport
Noun
  • That the earnestness the genre requires galls us cynics, who love to hide in our books, away from all those pesky bodies in the first place?
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Questions about whose interests Infantino is serving have developed beyond average cynics who tend to suspect this type of thing.
    — Simon Hughes, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of cynic
Noun
  • The study also computed the pre-tax and after-tax returns for overlapping 30-year periods and found that the tax drag varied over time.
    — Bob Carlson, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Rivalries are a defining aspect of the drama on Palm Royale, but in season two, the claws literally came out in a knock-down, drag-across-the-house showdown between Kristen Wiig’s Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons and Claudia Ferri’s Raquel Kimberly-Marco.
    — Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of drag
Noun
  • My ‘Deborah Vance Show senior writer’ persona was kind of a rude complainer with an incipient alcohol problem.
    — Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Are they deluded into thinking that the complainers are just a squeaky wheel minority and the majority of fans are happy with it?
    — Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 13 July 2026
Definition of complainer
Noun
  • CFMoto clearly doesn’t like to play by the conventional rules, and its latest offering takes a direct shot at big-bore ADVs at a fraction of the price.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2026
  • The bore heading eastbound into Chinatown will close for about seven months, with one lane of traffic open in each direction in the other bore.
    — Sooji Nam, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of bore
Noun
  • The nonprofit donated almost $200,000 to the church for the materials a grinch stole.
    — Dawn White, CBS News, 10 Dec. 2025
  • To play off the flavor of the candy, the grinch-green dough has a subtle cinnamon flavor of its own.
    — Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 30 Nov. 2025
Definition of grinch
Noun
  • Seafood is the star of the show here—especially the shrimp and grits and crab cakes, which Bernthal says are a must-order.
    — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The crabs were first spotted in the Mediterranean Sea in the last century but really began wreaking havoc only around a decade ago, when their population surged, posing a threat both to native biodiversity and to the fishing industry.
    — Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of crab

Browse Nearby Words

killing time
killjoy
killjoys
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Cite this Entry

“Killjoy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/killjoy. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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