Pessimism
['pesɪmɪz(ə)m] or ['pɛsɪmɪzəm]
Definition
(noun.) a general disposition to look on the dark side and to expect the worst in all things.
(noun.) the feeling that things will turn out badly.
Checker: Louie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The opinion or doctrine that everything in nature is ordered for or tends to the worst, or that the world is wholly evil; -- opposed to optimism.
(n.) A disposition to take the least hopeful view of things.
Typist: Preston
Definition
n. the doctrine that on the whole the world is bad rather than good: a temper of mind that looks too much on the dark side of things: a depressing view of life.—v.i. Pess′imise.—n. Pess′imist one who believes that everything is tending to the worst: one who looks too much on the dark side of things—opp. to Optimist.—adjs. Pessimis′tic -al.
Typist: Penelope
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile.
Editor: Samantha
Examples
- One suspects at times that our national cult of optimism is no real feeling that the world is good, but a fear that pessimism will produce panics. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- There was a great contrast between his world pessimism and personal cheeriness. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Silverton was in a mood of Titanic pessimism. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- They cannot afford an inclusive pessimism about mankind. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Checker: Muriel