Dictionary

optimist en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɒptɪmɪst/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɑptɪmɪst/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi Proto-Indo-European *-tm̥mos ? Latin optimus Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)bor. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French optim(isme) ▲ Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istabor. French -iste French optimistebor. English optimist Borrowed from French optimiste.

Meanings

1. A person who expects a favourable outcome.
   • People often call me an optimist, because I show them the enormous progress they didn't know about. That makes me angry. I'm not an optimist. That makes me sound naive. I'm a very serious “possibilist”. That’s something I made up. It means someone who neither hopes without reason, nor fears without reason, someone who constantly resists the overdramatic worldview. As a possibilist, I see all this progress, and it fills me with conviction and hope that further progress is possible. This is not optimistic. It is having a clear and reasonable idea about how things are. It is having a worldview that is constructive and useful.; 2017, Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think:
   • We are becoming as a nation, as a world, indeed, atom-conscious. Many of us are already afflicted with atomphobia, though so far it has manifested itself only in a mirage of autoaeromotive discs and a war of words between chronic optimists and empirical pessimists concerning civilization’s probable future. 1947 September 27, Richard R. Werry, “An American Beginning for International Education”, in School and Society, volume 66, number 1709, Lancaster, Pa.: The Society for the Advancement of Education, Inc., page 238:
2. A believer in optimism.

Forms

Antonyms

pessimist

Deriveds

antioptimist · cyberoptimist · poptimist · optimistic · skeptimist · techno-optimist · pessoptimist

Relateds

optimal · optimism

Translations (75)

eo optimisto (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ja 楽観主義者 (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · uk оптиміст (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · tr iyimser (a believer in optimism) · de Optimistin (a believer in optimism) · cs optimista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · vi người lạc quan (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nb optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nl optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · cmn 樂天派 /乐天派 (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ru оптими́стка (a believer in optimism) · lt optimistas (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nl optimist (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · nn optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · fr optimiste (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ar مُتَفَائِل (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ro optimistă (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · hy լավատես (a believer in optimism) · ca optimista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · vo frediman (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · mr आशावादी (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · vo hifrediman (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · pl optymista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · mi kiri mariu (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · tr optimist (a believer in optimism) · sh оптѝмист (a believer in optimism) · pt otimista (a believer in optimism) · lv optimists (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · pl optymistka (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ro optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ja 楽観主義者 (a believer in optimism) · he אופטימי (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ru оптими́ст (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nl optimist (a believer in optimism) · az nikbin adam (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · fi optimisti (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ru оптими́ст (a believer in optimism) · vo hifrediman (a believer in optimism) · sh optìmist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · he אופטימיסט (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · sv optimist (a believer in optimism) · pt otimista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · no Optimist (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · vo jifrediman (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · tr nikbin (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · vo frediman (a believer in optimism) · io optimisto (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · fr optimiste (a believer in optimism) · de Optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · ka ოპტიმისტი (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · sh оптѝмист (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · hy լավատես (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nn optimistjolle (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · ca optimista (a believer in optimism) · tr iyimser (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · es optimista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · gl optimista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · el αισιόδοξος (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · fi optimistijolla (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · sv optimistjolle (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · de Optimist (a believer in optimism) · sh optìmist (a believer in optimism) · sv optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · hu optimista (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · he אופטימיסט (a believer in optimism) · ru оптими́стка (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · he אופטימי (a believer in optimism) · he אופטימיסט (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · az nikbin (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nn optimist (a believer in optimism) · nb optimistjolle (a small centre-board sailing dinghy) · vo jifrediman (a believer in optimism) · tr optimist (a person who expects a favourable outcome) · nb optimist (a believer in optimism) · de Optimistin (a person who expects a favourable outcome)