pessimism
/ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/
pessimism noun: a general belief that bad things will happen.
Noun
pessimism (usually uncountable, plural pessimisms)
- A general belief that bad things will happen.
- Bourgeois novels were full of pessimism, their authors had sold out to capitalism and their heroes were mostly thieves, prostitutes, spies, and hooligans.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in...
- T2 isn’t as good as T1: it is a little too long and unwinds a bit into caper sentimentality, broad comedy and self-mythologising. But it has the same punchy energy, the same defiant pessimism, and there’s nothing around like it. This sequel was a high-wire act, but Boyle has made it to the other...2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in The Guardian
- The doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds.
- The condition of being pessimal.
pessimism meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
pessimism in Hindi
- general belief that bad things will happen
- निराशावाद nirāśāvād
pessimism in Tamil
- doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
- இழநம்பிக்கை iḻanampikkai
pessimism in Urdu
- مایوسی, یاس
pessimism in Bengali
- doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
- নৈরাশ্যবাদ nōiraśśobad
More languagesFewer languages
- pessimism in Malayalam
- നൈരാശ്യവാദം nairāśyavādaṁ
- pessimism in Kannada
- ನಿರಾಶಾವಾದ, ಹತಾಶವಾದ, ಹತಾಶೆ, ನಿರಾಶಾ ದೃಷ್ಟಿ
- pessimism in Arabic
- تَشَاؤُم tašāʔum
- pessimism in Indonesian
- pesimisme
- pessimism in Persian
- بدبینی badbini
- pessimism in Thai
- ทุทรรศนนิยม, ทุนิยม
- pessimism in Vietnamese
- bi quan, bi quan triết học
Examples of pessimism in a sentence
- That pessimism might be harder to fix than an actual downturn.
- Introverts tend to be closed, timid, cautious, and prone to pessimism.
- To understand China’s glowing optimism, we need to understand its enduring pessimism, and vice versa.
Antonyms of pessimism
Forms of pessimism
| plural | pessimisms |
|---|
Origin of pessimism
From French pessimisme, from Latin pessimus (“worst”) + -ism, superlative of malus (“bad”). As a doctrine, from German Pessimismus as used by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in 1819.
Words formed from pessimism
Questions about pessimism
- What does pessimism mean?
- Pessimism means a general belief that bad things will happen.
- What is pessimism in Hindi?
- Pessimism in Hindi is निराशावाद (nirāśāvād). See Pessimism meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is pessimism?
- Pessimism is a noun.
- How do you pronounce pessimism?
- Pessimism is pronounced /ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/.
- What is the plural of pessimism?
- The plural of pessimism is pessimisms.
Words near pessimism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pessimism (page history and authors); pessimism (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pessimism (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pessimism.wav.
Cite this entry: “pessimism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pessimism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.