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/ˈæd͡ʒəˌlæst/ · noun
(rare) One who never laughs (especially at jokes); a mirthless person..
As a real agelast in a comedy, he is beaten. The beating of an agelast is the most important point of the comedy.
Declaring with Doumergue that "Rabelais and Calvin (and Olivétan) were the creators of French literary prose,"²⁵ Bakhtin adds "Even the agelast Calvin wrote a pamphlet about relics with a certain comic overtone."²⁶ The single, and unusual word "agelast" summarizes the popular view of John Calvin: a person who does not laugh or smile; someone who cannot enjoy life or the fact that others might be happy.
For Kundera, agelasts represent the opposite of the spirit of the novel; the novel is born from the sense of humor and not from theoretical thinking.
Agelasts have a very clear idea that they have patent regarding both the truth and the mission and are so bloody solemn that they just cannot accept other views.
Use agelast when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Agelast means (rare) One who never laughs (especially at jokes); a mirthless person..
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
Possible antonyms include gelast, laugher, cachinnator, hypergelast.
As a real agelast in a comedy, he is beaten. The beating of an agelast is the most important point of the comedy.
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