Word Spy - breatharian

n. A person who attempts to get all their nutritional needs from the air.

Example Citation:

"'Breatharians' emulate ascetic saints who 'got all the nutrition they needed from the air,' Rhio explains. 'I've met some people who are trying to be doing it. They're doing it occasionally, but they're not at 100 per cent. Yet.'"
—"'Live' food devotees shun cooking," The Toronto Star, January 28, 1998

Notes:

The notion of a person trying to survive only on air sounds, well, kooky. However, as the citations above and below show, those who aspire to breatharianism see it as an enlightened, and even holy, state:

"Blume chose the most rigorous of the group's dietary options and began subsisting almost entirely on the juice of raw wheat grass. He told his friends he wanted to become a 'breatharian,' a holy man who could live on air alone."
—The Associated Press, October 14, 1979

Categories:

Food and Drink
People

Posted on February 21, 1998
Updated on January 8, 2002