Is there a name for people who can't stand doing things unnecessarily resulting in waste? (Of time, energy, money etc)  E.g. I consider myself to be a ______. I can't stand unnecessary waste.  Like how a pacifist is someone who doesn't have an affinity towards violence.
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Is there a word (or words) for a person who uses all resources to the maximum; for example, a person who keeps on using pencils even if they are very small?
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Is there a term that means "a person who enjoys learning"? This term might be used to describe someone who:   Is a self-motivated learner. Is curious, wants to understand many things.   I understand the term "philosopher" might be a good fit, in terms of its root words, however, the general population has an inconsistent understanding of this term, so I am looking for a more precise term.
3102
What do we call someone who asks a question and never responds to answers/comments?    Think of it more as "a pattern of behavior" (somebody who has asked many questions and never responded). I had unresponsive in mind, but that doesn't say that they asked in the first place.
45289
What is a good word(s) for someone who excessively asks for information that they have no business knowing?  This person constantly asks what other people have on their schedule. This same person (and I apologize if I am getting too personal) was recently caught rifling through other employee schedules. I have terminated the employee and was issuing a termination letter.
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I am looking for a word to describe a person who really suffers when it's cold. Let's say, cold is not their cup of tea. And (maybe) with a nuance that they are over-sensitive.     John is so [the word I'm looking for]; It's just 5C and he's wrapped   up in two sweaters and a winter coat!
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Is there any word for a person who is very , very much concerned about cleanliness and keeping things hygienic and even point out faults in clean things and explaining that they were dirty ?
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I'm looking for a single word to most aptly describe a person possessing the following "qualities":   Appears to be superior in every technology/skill under the sun, which he deems worthy of knowing On being questioned/assigned the task, is found to have only superficial/no knowledge of the said skill. Inherent tendency to "one-up" anyone and everyone - example: "I didn't work hard at all in my undergrad days, but yet I have better/equal grades than you have! "   Could someone help?  Edit: I've got some very good responses, but despite popular opinion for "braggart", I'm going with "pretentious" as it suits what I was looking for more aptly IMHO.
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Is there a term that is similar to sexist or racist but refers to gay people? "Homophobic" comes to mind, but that's more a fear or disgust of homosexuals versus discrimination based solely on sexual orientation.  To be specific, I'm looking for an -ist/-ism word, but I'm not sure if one exists.
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I spoke to a woman who had several issues dealing with a common process we go through at work. I gave her several solutions to her issues and even explained that one of her main issues was not really even an issue, just something she wasn't understanding fully and actually had the power to manage and maintain. She fought me throughout our conversation and kept repeating that she was having these issues, even as I tried to reinforce that these were solvable and manageable problems. After it was completely clear that everything had been explained and taken care of, she was obviously hesitant to accept that things were actually okay and seemed to want to not be okay with everything, just sighing and repeating, "Well... okay. But.... okay."  It was like she just wanted to be mad, perhaps because she was just foul-tempered, but also like she did not want to let go of the problem. I talk to these people every now and then who just seem unable to let go of that pessimistic mindset and want there to be a problem. Is there a word for this kind of person or a suitable adjective? The words I've come up with that touch on what I'm thinking of are argumentative, irrational, disagreeable, and dramatic, but none of these fully encapsulate that certain quality of just seeming to NEED there to be a problem.
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What's the word for someone who tries to get sympathy from others by exaggerating their emotions or constantly reminding them of something tragic that happened to them?  I'm looking for an adjective - no disorders or health related definitions please.
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What noun or adjective would one give to a person that is intolerant of stupidity? A person that becomes annoyed, angry, or of very short temper when conversing or interacting with people of a lower intelligence?  For example:       The man is very xyzxyz; his son can't do multiplication very well.     or     She is a(n) xyzxyz. She gets very frustrated when people forget things.   I'm looking almost for a scientific/medical/psychological term. One that would fall into the same kind of group as words like haemophiliac, masochist, nihilist, etc.
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My original question was "Is there a legitimate word for 'a balancer'?" but I think it's a little hard to understand...  Let's just say there is a person, and most of the time, he is in the minority. It can be very simple, such as: he simply hates a song everybody likes (and vice versa), or he has a very long list of 'underrated movies'. I guess he has a different (if not eccentric) taste comparing to most people..  On the other hand, he often does things that most people would refuse to do, too (whether he wants to or not). For example, most people wouldn't buy damaged goods, but he would. You can say he is sacrificing himself. To his mind, "If everybody wants perfection than who will care for the damaged?" or "There are certain people who would only accept the best, so there must be people who accept the worse, coexisting with the former."  This person does things that most people would never do, he stays in the minority so other people can be in the majority => some sort of "balancer"? You know, since he balances everything.. So, is there a word for people like him?  I know this is a long shot but please help me if you can, thank you!
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I usually tend to see the behavior in which someone takes an action, and people criticize, and even suggest what they should have done, yet when they take that same suggestion people still criticize.  For instance: I'm slim; when I eat with my family, everyone exclaims at the amount of food I'm eating. When I eat normally, they ask "Don't you know, you should eat more so you can grow better?" When I don't eat, the same shouting takes place. So in other words, is there a word I could use to describe them or their behavior in this regard?
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I'm looking for a word which describes a task which I think is poorly designed and will lead to either mediocre results or failure, but which I have to do anyway, especially in a work setting.   The word "Dilbertian" comes to mind, however this word is obviously made up and is only meaningful to someone who is familiar with the Dilbert comic strip, so I'm looking for something which captures both the futility and compulsory nature of the task in a way which is meaningful to a broader audience.
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I have a friend who always expects you to be fully understanding, considerate and thoughtful, but when you expect her to behave in the same way, she says you are too picky, a drama queen, and not being thoughtful by asking her to be thoughtful because she is either busy or stressed.  Is there a word that describes this type of behavior or person?
36421
I need to find a word (noun) for a person who acts as a "work-stopper" and creates hurdles for others so that the work cannot be completed. For example, some government officials force people to follow long bureaucratic procedures to create delays or put-off the worker (use of delay-tactics).  Example sentence: David is a ...
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In a way like a slave master. More though like say someone who had robots do all their work and they were never themselves productive and had no drive. If you've read R.U.R. you'll understand the question better. I'm looking for a word with more definition than just lazy.  Update 1: It think I may actually go with drone if anything. I think that definition fits what I'm looking for the best. I also liked the definition of the British term layabout that one person mentioned, but I will probably use drone. Thanks for all the help and sorry if I was confusing or unclear.  Update 2: I needed this word for use in an essay I was writing which I have now handed in. Thanks for the help guys. No more suggestions needed.