malcontent

Dictionary: mal·con·tent (măl'kən-tĕnt') pronunciation

adj.
Dissatisfied with existing conditions.

n.

A chronically dissatisfied person.
One who rebels against the established system: "immature malcontents who have long since sold out to conformity" (John M. Wilson).

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Word Tutor: malcontent

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IN BRIEF: One who is dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs.

We didn't know if the suggestions were real or simply put forth by a malcontent who wants change for change sake.

WordNet: malcontent

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a person who is discontented or disgusted

The adjective malcontent has one meaning:

Meaning #1: discontented as toward authority
Synonyms: disaffected, ill-affected, rebellious

Wikipedia: Malcontent

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For the early Jacobean stage play, see The Malcontent.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

The Malcontent is a character type often used in early modern drama. The character is discontent with the social structure and other characters in the play. He or she is often an outsider, who observes and offers commentary on the action and may even show awareness that they are in a play. Shakespeare's Richard III and Iago in Othello are typical malcontents.

The role is usually both political and dramatic; with the malcontent voicing dissatisfaction with the usually 'Machiavellian' political atmosphere and often using asides to build up a kind of self-consciousness and awareness of the text itself which other characters in the play will lack to the same extent.

Important malcontents include Bosola in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, Malevole in Marston's The Malcontent, Iago in Shakespeare's Othello, Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The morality and sympathy of the malcontent is a massive variable, as we can see in the examples listed above. Sometimes, as in Hamlet and The Malcontent, they are the sympathetic centre of the play, whereas Iago is a very unsympathetic character.

The most important thing about the malcontent, is that he is malcontent—unhappy, unsettled, displeased with the world as he sees it—not at ease with the world of the play in which he finds himself, eager to change it somehow, or to dispute with it. He is an objective or quasi-objective voice that comments on the concerns of the play and comments as though he is somehow above or beyond them.

The concept has a lot to do with the Renaissance idea of 'humours' and a surfeit of 'black bile' which caused melancholy.

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Translations: Malcontent

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - de utilfredse, de urolige elementer
adj. - utilfreds, oprørsk

Nederlands (Dutch)
ontevreden/misnoegd persoon, rebel, ontevreden

Français (French)
n. - mécontent (sout)
adj. - mécontent

Deutsch (German)
n. - Nörgler
adj. - unzufrieden

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δυσαρεστημένο άτομο, επαναστάτης, ρέμπελος
adj. - δυσαρεστημένος, εξεγερμένος

Italiano (Italian)
malcontento

Português (Portuguese)
n. - descontente (m)
adj. - rebelde

Русский (Russian)
оппозиционер, недовольный

Español (Spanish)
n. - descontento, insatisfecho
adj. - descontento, insatisfecho

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - missnöjd person, oppositionsman
adj. - missnöjd, oppositionell

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
不满现状的人, 抱不平的, 不服的, 不满的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 不滿現狀的人
adj. - 抱不平的, 不服的, 不滿的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 불만을 품은 사람, 반항자
adj. - 불만이 있는 , 비판적인

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 不平の
n. - 不平家, 反抗者

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نقمه, سخط (صفه) ناقم, ساخط‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מורד, אדם לא מרוצה‬
adj. - ‮לא מרוצה, עשוי למרוד‬

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	malecontent
	malcontented
	Marston, John (English playwright)

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