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pessimistic

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
pes·si·mism  (ps-mzm)
n.
1. A tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable or to take the gloomiest possible view: "We have seen too much defeatism, too much pessimism, too much of a negative approach" Margo Jones.
2. The doctrine or belief that this is the worst of all possible worlds and that all things ultimately tend toward evil.
3. The doctrine or belief that the evil in the world outweighs the good.

[French pessimisme (on the model of French optimisme, optimism), from Latin pessimus, worst; see ped- in Indo-European roots.]

pessi·mist n.
pessi·mistic adj.
pessi·misti·cal·ly adv.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.pessimistic - expecting the worst possible outcome
hopeless - without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success; "in an agony of hopeless grief"; "with a hopeless sigh he sat down"
negative - characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features; "a negative outlook on life"; "a colorless negative personality"; "a negative evaluation"; "a negative reaction to an advertising campaign"
optimistic - expecting the best in this best of all possible worlds; "in an optimistic mood"; "optimistic plans"; "took an optimistic view"

pessimistic
Translations
Spanish pessimistic [pɛsɪˈmɪstɪk] adjpesimista
French pessimistic [pɛsɪˈmɪstɪk] pessimist adjpessimiste
German pessimistic [pɛsɪˈmɪstɪk] pessimism adjpessimistisch
Italian pessimistic [pɛsɪˈmɪstɪk] adjpessimistico/a

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Raoul, with pessimistic foreboding, was convinced that there were only girls next door.
He looks upon life and all its affairs with the jaundiced eye of a pessimistic German philosopher.
With all its gifts and opportunities it was a melancholy life-- melancholy with something not altogether explained by the somewhat pessimistic philosophy exposed in the Journal, nor by the consumptive tendency of Amiel's physical constitution, causing him from a very early date to be much preoccupied with the effort to reconcile himself with the prospect of death, and reinforcing the far from sanguine temperament of one intellectually also a poitrinaire.
 
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