Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use pessimistic in a sentence

23 example sentences · adjective

Pessimistic means marked by pessimism and little hopefulness; expecting the worst. Example: “I read this extract as being extremely pessimistic.”

Examples of pessimistic by meaning

adjectiveMarked by pessimism and little hopefulness; expecting the worst.

  • a pessimistic view of the future
  • Some, noting the obvious analogies between Soviet Communism and Nazism, had pessimistic forebodings as to the inevitability of totalitarian systems throughout the world.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon...

adjectivePertaining to the worst-case scenario.

  • a pessimistic estimate
  • However pessimistic their predictions, most scientists and scholars who warn of impending disaster are really acting from antidystopian motives.1996, George Thomas Kurian, Graham Thomas Tate Molitor, Encyclopedia of the future, volume 1, page 212

adjectiveTaking out exclusive locks on data to prevent conflicts with other processes that might modify it.

  • pessimistic concurrency; pessimistic locking

More sentences with pessimistic

  • I read this extract as being extremely pessimistic.From the entry as
  • A pessimistic view would suggest that this continues to be the worst timeline.2021 September 29, Jennifer Sun, “In-Person Event Planning: Expect the Unexpected”, in UltraVires, University of Toronto, page 21. From the entry worst timeline
  • Even my fav, Von-Franz, is a bit too pessimistic about it.1999 February 21, Sharyn C, “Re: Hillman Online”, in alt.psychology.jung (Usenet), message-ID <3B348FE4.1963DB1D@prodigy.net>. From the entry puer
  • Think of Faulkner: his novels are very somber and pessimistic descriptions of the human being.1995, The Georgia Review, page 880. From the entry dangerosity
  • What could ever be termed defeatist or pessimistic – what could ever be called fellifluous – about such ideas?2022, Pierre Legrand, Negative Comparative Law: A Strong Programme for Weak Thought, →ISBN, page 375. From the entry fellifluous
  • If conservatives are pessimistic, reactionaries are apocalyptic.2017 April, Andrew Sullivan, “The Reactionary Temptation”, in New York Magazine, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2020. From the entry reactionary
  • Certainly the philosopher was not a pessimistic luncheon companion.2014 January 28, Will Self, “John Gray: Forget everything you know”, in Independent, retrieved 03 Mar 2021. From the entry Houyhnhnm
  • The unimpressive evidence for validity and operational problems related to projectives led Reilly and Chao to a pessimistic conclusion regarding projectives.2012, Linda C. Wing, Bernard R. Gifford, Policy Issues in Employment Testing, →ISBN, page 174. From the entry projective
  • Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, the medical arm of the National Academy of Sciences, was more pessimistic.2006 February 6, Donald McNeil Jr., “States and Cities Lag in Bird Flu Readiness”, in The New York Times. From the entry social distancing
  • Part detective story, part gangster, part urban melodrama, Film Noir was identified best by its dark and pessimistic undercurrents.1977, James Monaco, “The Shape of Film History”, in How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History, and Theory of Film and…. From the entry undercurrent
  • Martin Seligman's impressive body of research showed that a pessimistic explanatory style carves a path to depression, while an optimistic explanatory style leads to resilience.2021, Lisa Miller, The Awakened Brain, Ch.2, at p.36. From the entry resilience
  • Nonetheless, a team of business experts claims to have proved the pessimistic notion that "nice guys finish last" – at least where money is concerned.2011 December 5, Richard Hall, “I didn't get where I am today by being nice... Study reveals agreeable men earn £4,500 less than their…. From the entry nice guys finish last
  • If the people are corrupt; if everybody is a grafter, as our pessimistic friends would have us believe, Roosevelt would be unpopular.1911, The Twentieth Century Magazine, volume 4, page 335. From the entry grafter
  • As a rule the same pessimistic opinion of the world condemns the city as a hotbed of vice and laudates the country.1901, The Baltimore Underwriter. A Semi-Monthly Journal Devoted to the Interests of Insurance in All Its Branches., volume LXVI, page 12…. From the entry laudate
  • Not only are they angry that the entire galaxy seems out to get them, the krogan are also generally pessimistic about their race's chances of survival.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Krogan: Culture Codex entry. From the entry future
  • Nouriel Roubini, one of Wall Street's most pessimistic seers, worries that the "forthcoming jingle-mail tsunami" could spawn $1 trillion-2 trillion of financial losses, creating a systemic banking crisis.2008, The Economist. From the entry jingle mail
  • I was starting to count chickens, but then I had always worked on the principle that it was good to talk oneself out of being tired, or pessimistic.2001, Victor Smith, Open Cockpit over Africa, →ISBN, page 89. From the entry count chickens
  • His pessimistic and unhopeful temperament was doubtless due to inherent and hereditary bodily weakness, and to the lack of muscular cultivation in his youth, which might have modified inherent tendencies.1904, Various, Memories of Jane Cunningham Croly, "Jenny June". From the entry unhopeful

Meaning of pessimistic

  1. adjective Marked by pessimism and little hopefulness; expecting the worst.
  2. adjective Pertaining to the worst-case scenario.
  3. adjective Taking out exclusive locks on data to prevent conflicts with other processes that might modify it.

Full definition of pessimistic

Questions about pessimistic in a sentence

How do you use pessimistic in a sentence?
Pessimistic is used as an adjective. For example: “I read this extract as being extremely pessimistic.”
What is a short sentence with pessimistic?
“a pessimistic estimate”
What does pessimistic mean?
Pessimistic means marked by pessimism and little hopefulness; expecting the worst.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pessimistic (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use pessimistic in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/pessimistic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.