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In securing the future of the planet, we secure happiness for ourselves. One of the aims of the Greens is to turn around the tide of pessimism amongst the young people of the world.
Bob Brown

Meaning of "pessimism" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD PESSIMISM

From Latin pessimus worst, from malus bad.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF PESSIMISM

pessimism  [ˈpɛsɪˌmɪzəm] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF PESSIMISM

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Pessimism is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES PESSIMISM MEAN IN ENGLISH?

pessimism

Pessimism

Pessimism is a state of mind in which one anticipates undesirable outcomes or believes that the evil or hardships in life outweigh the good or luxuries. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?" situation. The degree in which situations like these are evaluated as something good or something bad can be described in terms of one's optimism or pessimism respectively. Throughout history, the pessimistic disposition has had effects on all major areas of thinking. Philosophical pessimism is the related idea that views the world in a strictly anti-optimistic fashion. This form of pessimism is not an emotional disposition as the term commonly connotes. Instead, it is a philosophy or worldview that directly challenges the notion of progress and what may be considered the faith-based claims of optimism. Philosophical pessimists are often existential nihilists believing that life has no intrinsic meaning or value. Their responses to this situation however are widely varied and are often life-affirming.

Definition of pessimism in the English dictionary

The first definition of pessimism in the dictionary is the tendency to expect the worst and see the worst in all things. Other definition of pessimism is the doctrine of the ultimate triumph of evil over good. Pessimism is also the doctrine that this world is corrupt and that man's sojourn in it is a preparation for some other existence.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH PESSIMISM


academism
əˈkædəˌmɪzəm
alarmism
əˈlɑːmɪzəm
animism
ˈænɪˌmɪzəm
atomism
ˈætəˌmɪzəm
Benthamism
ˈbɛnθəˌmɪzəm
bromism
ˈbrəʊˌmɪzəm
dynamism
ˈdaɪnəˌmɪzəm
dysphemism
ˈdɪsfɪˌmɪzəm
economism
ɪˈkɒnəˌmɪzəm
endemism
ˈɛndəmɪzəm
euphemism
ˈjuːfɪˌmɪzəm
extremism
ɪkˈstriːmɪzəm
minimism
ˈmɪnɪˌmɪzəm
opiumism
ˈəʊpɪəˌmɪzəm
optimism
ˈɒptɪˌmɪzəm
overoptimism
ˌəʊvərˈɒptɪˌmɪzəm
pancosmism
pænˈkɒzˌmɪzəm
racemism
ˈræsɪˌmɪzəm
seismism
ˈsaɪzˌmɪzəm
totemism
ˈtəʊtəˌmɪzəm

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE PESSIMISM

peskier
peskiest
peskily
peskiness
pesky
peso
pessaries
pessary
pessima
pessimal
pessimist
pessimistic
pessimistical
pessimistically
Pessoa
pest
pest control
pest control department
pest control officer

WORDS THAT END LIKE PESSIMISM

Afro-pessimism
bathmism
bedlamism
cosmism
Humism
intimism
Islamism
legitimism
logical atomism
momism
Moslemism
Muslimism
nonconformism
Pan-Islamism
panspermism
photochromism
reformism
short-termism
thermochromism
Thomism

Synonyms and antonyms of pessimism in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «PESSIMISM»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «pessimism» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of pessimism

Translation of «pessimism» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF PESSIMISM

Find out the translation of pessimism to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of pessimism from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «pessimism» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

悲观主义
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

pesimismo
570 millions of speakers

English

pessimism
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

निराशावाद
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

التشاؤم
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

пессимизм
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

pessimismo
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

মন্দগ্রাহিতা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

pessimisme
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Pesimisme
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Pessimismus
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

悲観
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

비관론
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Pessimism
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

chủ nghia bi quan
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அவநம்பிக்கை
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

निराशावादी
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

kötümserlik
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

pessimismo
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

pesymizm
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

песимізм
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

pesimism
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

απαισιοδοξία
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

pessimisme
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

pessimism
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

pessimisme
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of pessimism

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «PESSIMISM»

The term «pessimism» is quite widely used and occupies the 53.354 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
75
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «pessimism» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of pessimism
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «pessimism».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «PESSIMISM» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «pessimism» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «pessimism» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about pessimism

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «PESSIMISM»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word pessimism.
1
Margaret Atwood
Optimism means better than reality; pessimism means worse than reality. I'm a realist.
2
Bob Brown
In securing the future of the planet, we secure happiness for ourselves. One of the aims of the Greens is to turn around the tide of pessimism amongst the young people of the world.
3
Bernard DeVoto
Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom.
4
Emilio Estevez
If only media people would stop reaching for the low-hanging fruit, which is cynicism and pessimism, and stopped trying so hard to be hip and cool and have a swagger.
5
John Kenneth Galbraith
We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect.
6
Charles Albert Gobat
It is true that I am not one of those who laugh at utopias. The utopia of today can become the reality of tomorrow. Utopias are conceived by optimistic logic which regards constant social and political progress as the ultimate goal of human endeavor; pessimism would plunge a hopeless mankind into a fresh cataclysm.
7
Antonio Gramsci
Pessimism of the spirit; optimism of the will.
8
Miranda Hart
Pessimism is my default setting.
9
Gordon B. Hinckley
Criticism and pessimism destroy families, undermine institutions of all kinds, defeat nearly everyone, and spread a shroud of gloom over entire nations.
10
Patricia Ireland
I don't think you lead by pessimism and cynicism. I think you lead by optimism and enthusiasm and energy.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «PESSIMISM»

Discover the use of pessimism in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to pessimism and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit
Even when pessimism looks like utter truth, we are told that it makes the worst of a bad situation. Bad for the individual, worse for the species--who would actually counsel pessimism? Joshua Foa Dienstag does.
Joshua Foa Dienstag, 2009
2
Cultural Pessimism: Narratives of Decline in the Postmodern ...
Taking as its starting point the long-standing characterization of Milton as a "Hebraic" writer, Milton and the Rabbis probes the limits of the relationship between the seventeenth-century English poet and polemicist and his Jewish ...
Oliver Bennett, 2001
3
The Uses of Pessimism: And the Danger of False Hope
Written in Scruton's trademark style-- erudite, sweeping in scope across centuries and cultures, and unafraid to offend-- this book is sure to intrigue and provoke readers concerned with the state of Western culture, the nature of human ...
Roger Scruton, 2010
4
Studies in Pessimism
Collected here are nine short essays, On the Sufferings of the World, The Vanity of Existence, On Suicide, Immortality: A Dialogue, Psychological Observations, On Education, Of Women, On Noise, and A Few Parables, by the world renowned ...
Arthur Schopenhauer, 2012
5
Technology, Pessimism, and Postmodernism
This collection of essays by international scholars from various disciplines addressed the theme of technological pessimism-the conviction that technology has given us the means not to achieve unlimited progress but to destroy ourselves and ...
Yaron Ezrahi, Everett Mendelsohn, Howard P. Segal, 1994
6
Buying at the Point of Maximum Pessimism: Six Value ...
With the U.S. in trouble, savvy international investing is a must, and this book shows you the best places to put your money for serious profits ahead.” –Christopher Ruddy, CEO, Newsmax Media, Inc. “In Buying at the Point of Maximum ...
Scott Phillips, Lauren Templeton, 2010
7
Pessimism: A History And A Criticism (LARGE PRINT EDITION)
(LARGE PRINT EDITION) This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.
James Sully, 2011
8
The Pessimism of Thomas Hardy
Explains the social reasons for Thomas Hardy's consistent pessimism expressed in all his major works. The author contends that this came from the failure of bourgeois society to correct the anachronisms in the social machinery of the day.
G. W. Sherman, 1976
9
Progress and Pessimism: Religion, Politics, and History in ...
Looks at the lives and careers of four prominent historians, and discusses the political implications for progress
Jeffrey Paul Von Arx, 1985
10
Pessimism
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process.
Benjamin Franklin Lacy, 2009

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «PESSIMISM»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term pessimism is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Pessimism of Price's agent doesn't sway Tigers
David Price's agent Bo McKinnis went on MLB Network Radio Sunday and said "it's kind of hard to say I'm optimistic" the Tigers will keep his ... «The Detroit News, Jul 15»
2
We Need Optimists
Pessimism arouses fear and anger, while optimism inspires hope. Hope can accompany fear in times of extraordinary sacrifice (such as war), ... «New York Times, Jul 15»
3
Eastern European pessimism
Having reached new highs in 2014, the outlook for the Eastern European construction market is not looking as positive, according to the ... «KHL Group, Jul 15»
4
The fearless pessimism of Netflix's 'BoJack Horseman'
Series like Netflix's BoJack Horseman, the second season of which premiered online this past weekend, generally don't get made. «Random Nerds, Jul 15»
5
John Key faces his biggest test yet from growing pessimism and …
And whatever the fiscal weather, you don't expect the prime minister to talk down the economy. In the case of "Sunny" John Key being positive ... «Stuff.co.nz, Jul 15»
6
Pessimism should be allowed on Planet Key
The pessimism did not immediately result in a bump to National's popularity in Sunday night's poll, the party was down just 1 per cent, within the ... «Manawatu Standard, Jul 15»
7
Iran may stage comeback in oil market amid growing pessimism in …
Analysts are pessimistic about Iran's ability to bounce back Iran could restore oil production halted by sanctions faster than anyone anticipates if ... «Economic Times, Jul 15»
8
Economic pessimism on the rise - poll
That compares with 54 percent optimism and 22 percent pessimism the same time last year. Stories dominating the headlines at the time the ... «Radio New Zealand, Jul 15»
9
Fr. Rutler on On Pessimism, Optimism, and Hope
The pessimist and the optimist are much alike. Though the maxim has the pessimist seeing a glass half-empty and the optimist seeing it half-full ... «Pewsitter, Jul 15»
10
Don't let parents' pessimism take joy out of wedding: Ellie
Don't let parents' pessimism take joy out of wedding: Ellie. Try to brush aside negative distractions as marriage approaches. Share on ... «Toronto Star, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Pessimism [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/pessimism>. Apr 2024 ».
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