ANIMALISTÜ

adjective (People and Society) Discriminating against animals; demeaning animals or denying them rights by the way one speaks, thinks, or behaves. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ist as used in racist or sexist to animal: compare ageist (see ageism). History and Usage: Also very new and still rare, this sense of animalist is a British usage which promises to give rise to some considerable confusion by creating a situation in which the noun animalist and its corresponding adjective carry almost opposite meanings. Ultimately one or other sense must surely survive at the expense of the other--if indeed either catches on. Animal rights campaigners on Merseyside are urging parents and teachers to stop children using 'animalist' expressions, which they claim demean certain creatures. Daily Telegraph 27 Oct. 1989, p. 5