prepper

English

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛpɚ/
Audio (General Australian): (file)

Etymology 1

From prep (“prep school”) +‎ -er.

Noun

prepper (plural preppers)

(UK, slang) A student at a prep school.
Coordinate term: (US) preppy
(UK, slang) Prep school.
- 2010, Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles:
  ‘We have a vacancy at a very nice little prepper in North Yorkshire. Cundall Manor.’

Etymology 2

From prep (“prepare”, verb) +‎ -er.

Noun

prepper (plural preppers)

A survivalist; one who actively prepares for emergencies.
- 2010 March 26, Madeleine Morris, “Americans get set for disaster day”, in BBC News‎^[1]:
  Preppers are keen not to be seen as survivalists – the stereotypically anti-government, wood-dwelling, gun-toting hermits of past decades. Rather than isolating themselves in preparation for Armageddon, preppers tend to have normal jobs, mingle with their communities and take a more relaxed view about looming disasters.
- 2014 May 15, Colette Shade, “How to Prep for the Apocalypse on Pinterest”, in The Atlantic‎^[2]:
  After all, Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp says it was always meant to be a utility: “It’s a tool people use to plan their futures,” he told ReadWrite earlier this year. Preppers just happen to think the future looks bleak.
- 2020 March 21, Mark O’Connell, “This Is Not the End of the World and You Are Not a Prepper”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:
  Earlier today, I found myself taking it down and flicking through its index — “handcranked lanterns”; “pandemic”; “panic, avoidance of” — in a manner that felt remarkably different to how I had flicked through it in the past. The themes and motifs of the prepper movement are having a moment in the mainstream.
- 2020 April 24, Nellie Bowles, “I Used to Make Fun of Silicon Valley Preppers. Then I Became One.”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN:
  The preppers were living in flush times in a beautiful region, but it seemed like the first thing they did with money was steel for the apocalypse.

Descendants

→ German: Prepper