What are the words for people who cause trouble believing they know better?
Update: There is a similar question, and I am thankful for pointing this out, as I found it interesting and useful to read answers to that question, yet my question is different: I am talking about people who make harm or cause trouble by real actions rather than merely annoy with unwanted pieces of advice. I think there is a principal difference between merely advising and actually interfering.
I cannot find a precise English word for a specific kind of person or personality trait and am humbly asking for your help. Let me describe a few situations to explain what personality trait or kind of person I mean.
Situation 1: A girl climbs on a high diving tower in order to enjoy a view of the lake. There a guy starts trying to persuade her to jump into the water. The girl is highly reluctant, but the guy is persistent and explains that jumping into the water will bring unforgettable emotions. Being unable to persuade her, the guy physically pushes her from the tower, deliberately making her fall into the water. The girl falls from the great height, screaming as if she were watching a horror movie. She surfaces from the water and feels extremely angry, as she strongly disliked the experience, was not psychologically prepared at all, and did not want to get her hair wet. The guy laughs, "You had to try it. Told ya, it's easier than you thought."
Situation 2: A student is preparing a small party for her colleagues in a research institute on the occasion of her graduation and brings a few bottles of expensive champagne to the institute for the party. Having little time left before the party, she puts the bottles to the freezer of a fridge at the institute in order to cool them on time. A few minutes before the party she returns to the fridge to take the bottles and does not find them in the freezer - they are in the main compartment of the fridge and have not been cooled at all. The girl is totally frustrated. The cleaning guy, who is unaware of the party, comes in and says, "Champagne does not belong in the freezer. How could you not know this? How could you not realize that it would get frozen within a few hours? I put it where it belongs."
Situation 3: A PhD student feels she was somewhat mistreated by her professor, and tells a friend about it. The guy says he will go to the professor and explain him how wrong he is. The girl asks the guy not to do it, because she is afraid that things might go very wrong. Yet the guy nevertheless approaches the professor some days later. A verbal argument starts between them and quickly escalates. The result is that the professor feels deeply offended and finds a formal pretext to stop supervising the girl. She is in deep trouble and has to look for another supervisor and start her PhD project over. She would happily accept occasional slight mistreatment instead, but it is too late.
I humbly hope you now understand what kind of people I mean. The guy causes harm or trouble or inconvenience, believing he knows better. He is closed-minded, has little empathy, and disregards the opinions of others. He is ignorant of the details and circumstances of the situation, but is quick to intervene. He has a big ego and feels entitled to decide for others what is best for them. He is not evil and has no bad intent, and he is not stupid either and may even excel in his studies or at his work, but he pays little attention to concerns or intents of others and is not used to giving thought to how his actions will actually impact others. He has a rigid way of thinking, is quick to make decisions, and is persistent and stubborn in executing them, sometimes to the extent of ignoring explicit protests or warnings by others.
My question is this: what words or brief expressions are there in the English language for such people? The more precise the better. I want to learn not only high register words, but also colloquial and even rude words. I especially want to learn very clear words that will cause deep understanding on an emotional level.
As an aside, the first word that comes to mind in my native Japanese is クソ野郎 . Translations of that usually come out in English as rude epithets (eg Google translate gives 'f***ing bastard') none of which capture the intention I'm describing, so I'm not looking for a translation.
I think the closest word to what you're looking for is meddlesome. Here is the definition for meddlesome according to Cambridge dictionary:
Often getting involved in situations where you are not wanted, especially by criticizing in a damaging or annoying way.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/tr/s%C3%B6zl%C3%BCk/ingilizce/meddlesome
Another definition by Collins dictionary:
If you describe a person as meddlesome, you are criticizing them because they try to influence or change things that do not concern them.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/meddlesome
And here you can find some synonyms:
https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/meddlesome
Those people are busybodies!
Busybody
a person who pries into or meddles in the affairs of others.
As pointed out in the comments, a stereotypical busybody is someone who habitually interferes in the social affairs of others. It definitely applies to #3 and I think it's pretty close for #2 as well.
A classic response from someone who is being harassed by a busybody is
Mind your own business!
which means, almost exactly, "Do not be a busybody".
It's a lot to capture in just one word.
Looking at the many parts of the question in order to find the best words or brief expression one can see a person who:
- Causes harm or trouble or inconvenience
- Believes he/she knows better than everyone else
- Is closed-minded
- Lacks empathy
- Disregards the opinions of others (this would tie in with number 2 and number 3)
- Ignorant of the details and circumstances of the situation, but is quick to intervene.
- Big ego and feels entitled to decide for others what is best for them
- Not evil and has no bad intent
- Not stupid either and may even excel in his studies or at his work
- He has a rigid way of thinking
- Is quick to make decisions
- Persistent and stubborn in executing decisions
- Ignores warnings and protests of others
Some options:
imperious
assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering.
English Oxford Living Dictionaries
This term ties into the rigid, persistent, know-it-all, big ego parts of the list and contains the idea of commanding others. It does not imply intelligence or stupidity. It may imply evil in some readers mind. This word might be used as a basis for a description that tunes the meaning to your goal.
overbearing
unpleasantly or arrogantly domineering. English Oxford Living Dictionaries
Similar to "imperious" but with a more negative tone. Though this person is unpleasant there is no evil or level of intelligence indicated. Combined with other carefully selected word you could arrive at a description that meets all your requirements.
domineering
assert one's will over another in an arrogant way
English Oxford Living Dictionaries
This term contains a stronger sense of forcing one's will on others in a negative way. To say that someone is "imperious, overbearing and domineering" would be a way to add extra emphasis to the ways in which the words are similar and yet carry the nuances of each word to add clarity.
ride roughshod over
carry out one's own plans or wishes with arrogant disregard for (others or their wishes).
English Oxford Living Dictionaries
This phrase offers a picture of a horse that has been shod with nails projecting from its shoes being ridden over a person or persons completely disregarding the well being of others. This may capture most of the requirements along with expressing some of the emotional pain a person with the character traits you describe might inflict.