People who bash or hit forcefully; those who attack, strike, or criticize harshly and violently.
From 'bash' (probably imitative, from Scandinavian 'bask,' to strike) + '-er' (agent noun). 'Bash' emerged in English around 1650; 'bashers' followed shortly after.
In the 1980s, 'bashers' became a political term—'bash' journalists, 'gay bashers'—the word's sound actually helps it work as an insult because 'bash' sounds like the violence it describes.
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