cassandra

IPA/kəˈsændrə/
KK[kəsˈændrə]IPA/kəˈsændrə/

cassandra — noun

1. someone who warns of coming disaster or misfortune but whose warnings are ignore

1.nounC2
Definition

someone who warns of coming disaster or misfortune but whose warnings are ignored or dismissed by others

Example

Amara became the office cassandra after her warnings about the failing servers went unheeded.

collocation: become a cassandra

Dr. Okonkwo was dismissed as a cassandra when he predicted the bridge would collapse within two years.

collocation: dismiss as a cassandra

Common collocations
  • become a cassandra
  • play the cassandra
  • be dismissed as a cassandra
  • be labelled a cassandra
  • cassandra-like warnings
  • cassandra complex
  • cassandra syndrome
Synonyms
  • prophet of doom

    more informal and dismissive; does not require the prediction to be correct

  • doomsayer

    emphasizes repetitive, pessimistic warnings; may imply the predictions are exaggerated

  • alarmist

    implies the warnings are excessive or unwarranted, unlike cassandra which implies eventual vindication

  • Jeremiah

    biblical equivalent; specifically forecasts moral or social decline with a religious tone

Usage Note

Subject is usually someone whose expertise or warnings have been dismissed by a group or institution. The word carries the implication that the prediction turns out to be correct.

Common Mistakes

Everyone believed the cassandra's warning about the economy.
Everyone ignored the cassandra's warning about the economy
until it was too late.' — A cassandra is defined by NOT being believed; if everyone trusts the warning, the word does not apply.
She was a cassandra because she always saw the bright side of things.
She was an optimist, not a cassandra
a cassandra predicts disaster, never good fortune.' — A cassandra specifically foretells bad events.

2. a female first name, originally from Greek mythology

2.noun
Definition

a female first name, originally from Greek mythology

Example

Cassandra studied marine biology at the University of Queensland before joining the research vessel.

Cassandra taught her younger sister how to ride a bicycle in the park behind their house.

Word family

  • cassandra-like
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A cassandra is someone whose grim predictions prove correct but are ignored. A prophet of doom is a more informal, often dismissive label for anyone who habitually predicts the worst — the prediction does not have to be right. A doomsayer is similar but emphasises the repetitive, tiresome nature of the warnings. An alarmist goes further: the word implies the warnings are exaggerated or unwarranted, whereas a cassandra, by definition, is eventually vindicated. A Jeremiah is the closest biblical parallel — a prophet of moral and social collapse whose warnings go unheeded — but carries a specifically religious or moralistic tone that cassandra lacks. In modern usage, an environmental scientist warning about climate change for decades might be called a cassandra (she was right, nobody listened), while a tabloid headline predicting catastrophe every week would be dismissed as alarmism.

prophet of doom ↗doomsayer ↗alarmist ↗Jeremiah

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

From the Greek mythological figure Cassandra (Κασσάνδρα), daughter of King Priam of Troy. The god Apollo granted her the gift of prophecy, but when she rejected his advances, he cursed her so that no one would ever believe her predictions. She foresaw the fall of Troy and the Trojan Horse trick but was ignored by all. Her name entered English as a common noun around the 16th century through literary references, referring to anyone whose accurate warnings of disaster go unheeded.