yeasayer

• yea-sayer

Origin: 1915–1920, after naysayer, from yea + say +‎ -er, equivalent to yeasay +‎ -er. First recorded use: 1920.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈjeɪˌseɪ.ə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈjeɪˌseɪ.ɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: yea‧say‧er

yeasayer (plural yeasayers)

1. One whose attitude is positive, optimistic, confidently affirmative.

   Synonyms: optimist, can-doer

2. (derogatory) One who habitually agrees uncritically.

   Synonyms: yes man, doormat, kowtower

   • 2025 June 14, Melissa Heikkilä, “AI leaders rein in ‘sycophantic’ chatbots that flatter users”, in FT Weekend, Companies & Markets, page 12:

     The “yeasayer effect” arises in AI models trained using reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF)—human “data labellers” rate the answer generated by the model as being either acceptable or not.

• naysayer, nay-sayer

• yeasaying, yea-saying