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Finifugal

March 27, 2022

Finifugal /fan· ee ·fyoo ·gal/ adj.  

Definition: The word finifugal is an adjective that describes a person who prolongs or tries to put off emotional endings. 

Examples of finifugal endings include break-ups in marriages and long-term relationships, career changes after years of working for a loyal employer or moving to a new state after spending your entire life living there. Finifugal endings are painful and filled with sorrow. People who are finifugal procrastinate in most areas of their life.

Etymology: We first see the word finifugal in the 18th-century Tollemache Journals of Education. After it was published in the journal, the word was used in 1883 to describe people afraid of finishing things. 

Finifugal is a Latin word formed from combining the words fini-s (meaning end), fug-a (flight) and -al. We still use the word with its original meaning.

In a Sentence

He approached his final exam in a finifugal state because he was afraid to leave school.

She was finifugal about ending her career and venturing out on her own as a freelancer.

If you always put off the end of relationships, or if you procrastinate a lot, you’re finifugal.

Synonyms 

Cheat, Manipulate

Antonym

Finisher, Go-Getter

2 Comments

  1. Bonita

    The synonyms seem wrong. They indicate negative connotations. Your examples indicate a reluctant state more than a cheating one.

    Reply
  2. Bonita

    Your examples for a word meaning and it’s synonyms seem incorrect. Rather than, let’s say reluctant or heasitant, you say cheating or manipulative.

    Reply

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