sb. and a. A. sb. One who or that which destroys joy or pleasure; one who throws a gloom over social enjoyment.
1776. Burney, Hist. Mus. (1789), I. 455. The Gods were not then, says M. Rousseau, regarded as kill-joys and shut out of convivial meetings.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, xxv. Licentious young men, who detested him as the kill-joy of Florence.
1896. J. P. Mahaffy, in Chautauquan, Oct., 49/2. Reserve, if apparent, is the real kill-joy of conversation.
B. adj. That kills or puts an end to joy.
1822. Scott, Pirate, i. His kill-joy visage will never again stop the bottle in its round.
