alarmist

新型コロナウィルス感染症対策を巡って、トランプ大統領と米国立アレルギー・感染症研究所トップのDr. Anthony Fauciの亀裂、対立が益々鮮明になっています。

トランプ大統領がDr. Fauciは"alarmist"のきらいがある、と批判したのに対し、Fauci氏自身はこれを言下に否定、むしろ"realist"だと返しました。


(CNN) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday he considered himself "more a realist than an alarmist" after President Donald Trump on Sunday labeled him "a little bit of an alarmist" even as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.

"Well, I mean people have their opinion about my reaction to things. I consider myself more a realist than an alarmist," Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead" when asked about Trump's characterization.

"But, you know, people do have their opinions other than that. I've always thought of myself as a realist when it comes to this."

Fauci's comments follow a tense stretch with the President that saw the White House make a concerted effort to discredit him as he became increasingly vocal about his concerns over reopening the country amid a national surge in coronavirus cases.
(Paul LeBlanc. Fauci responds to Trump: 'I consider myself more a realist than an alarmist.' July 21, 2020.)


"alarmist"、つまり"alarm"（警告）をする人（-ist）ですが、辞書で引くと、


A person who needlessly alarms others, as by spreading exaggerated rumors of impending danger.
(American Heritage Dictionary)


とあり、"needlessly"や"exaggerated"といった説明には、不必要に不安を煽っているというような、否定的な含意があるようです。

ランダムハウス英和辞書では、


人騒がせな人；心配性の人、取り越し苦労をする人


という訳語で載っていました。

正体がはっきりしない新型ウィルスに対しては、楽観よりもむしろ警戒を怠らない姿勢が必要かも知れません。勿論、不必要に不安を煽る“scaremonger”であってはならないとは思いますが。