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noun
1.
the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes, results, conditions, problems, etc.: His pessimism about the future of our country depresses me.
2.
the doctrine that the existing world is the worst of all possible worlds, or that all things naturally tend to evil.
3.
the belief that the evil and pain in the world are not compensated for by goodness and happiness.
Origin:
1785–95; < Latin pessim(us), suppletive superlative of malus bad + -ism; modeled on optimism
1785–95; < Latin pessim(us), suppletive superlative of malus bad + -ism; modeled on optimism
Related forms
o·ver·pes·si·mism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Pessimism
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Example Sentences
- More than ever, mutual fund investors will have to sit tight and ride out the bouts of pessimism.
- The intellectual arguments against climate pessimism are there.
- For weeks, the government had been feeding the public's pessimism.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pessimism
1794 "worst condition possible," borrowed (by Coleridge) from Fr. pessimisme, formed (on model of Fr. optimisme) from L. pessimus "worst," originally "bottom-most," from PIE *ped-samo-, superl. of base *pes- "foot" (see foot). As a name given to the doctrines of Schopenhauer,
EXPANDHartmann, etc., that this is the worst possible world, or that everything tends toward evil, it is first recorded 1878, from Ger. pessimismus (Schopenhauer, 1819).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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