pessimism
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a general feeling that bad things will happen or that a situation will not be successful.
a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future.
Simple“Despite the bad news, he tried not to let his pessimism affect the rest of the team.”
In context“The prevailing economic pessimism has led many investors to withdraw their capital from emerging markets in favor of more stable assets.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
the philosophical idea that this world is as bad as it can possibly be.
the doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds, or that all things tend toward evil.
Simple“In his essays, the writer explored a deep sense of philosophical pessimism regarding human nature.”
In context“Schopenhauer is perhaps the most famous proponent of philosophical pessimism, arguing that existence is inherently characterized by suffering.”
Synonymsphilosophical pessimismAntonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
the state of being in the worst possible condition.
the condition of being pessimal or at the lowest possible point of efficiency or quality.
Simple“The algorithm reached a state of pessimism where no further processing could improve the result.”
In context“Engineers analyzed the system's pessimism to determine why the software was performing at its theoretical minimum speed.”
SynonymsAntonymsoptimality
“This growing pessimism is consistent with an economic environment that remains challenging for consumers.”
“It’s very different.” Despite his pessimism over the state of Italian football, Balotelli, who earned 36 caps for the Azzurri , scoring 14 goals, remains confident of a bright future.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.