n.1 a form of (esp. sexual) perversion characterized by gratification derived from one's own pain or humiliation (cf. SADISM).
2 colloq. the enjoyment of what appears to be painful or tiresome.
Derivatives:
masochist n. masochistic adj. masochistically adv.
Etymology: L. von Sacher- Masoch, Austrian novelist d. 1895, who described cases of it