Dictionary

pessimist en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɛsɪmɪst/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From French pessimiste, from Latin pessimus (“worst”) + -ist.

Meanings

1. Someone who habitually expects the worst outcome; one who looks on the dark side of things.
   • I will not marry a pessimist, a born loser, a fellow who has no fight in him. 1940 September 29, “Letters Reveal Ordeals in France”, in The New York Times, page 12:
   • 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:

Forms

Antonyms

optimist

Deriveds

heteropessimist · Afropessimist · technopessimist · cyberpessimist · pessoptimist

Relateds

pessimism · pessimistic

Translations (72)

bg песимист (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · gl pesimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · it pessimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ru пессими́ст (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · hy հոռետես (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · vo hibadiman (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ga duarcán (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · cs pesimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ja 悲観主義者 (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · nl pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · el απαισιόδοξος (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · da sortseer (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · az bədbin adam (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ca pessimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · cmn 悲觀主義者 /悲观主义者 (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ar مُتَشَائِم (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · vo jibadiman (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · bo ཡིད་ཆད་རིང་ལུགས་པ (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · mk песимист (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · rm pessimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ru пессими́стка (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · tr bedbin (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · de Pessimistin (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · sk pesimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · vo badiman (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · sh песѝмист (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · tr pesimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · sl pesimíst (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · nl zwartdenker (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ja 厭世家 (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · nrf pessimiste (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · uz pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · tr karamsar (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ro pesimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ky пессимист (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ro pesimistă (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · et pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · nn pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · he פסימיסט (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · rm pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · uk песимі́ст (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · fi pessimisti (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · pl pesymistka (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · is svartsýnismaður (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · te నిరాశావాది (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · be песіміст (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · eo pesimistino (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · pl pesymista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · eo pesimisto (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · nl doemdenker (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · es agorero (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · cy pesimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · sh pesìmist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · hu pesszimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · tr kötümser (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · de Pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · eo nigravidulo (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · az bədbin (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · es pesimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · sv pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · io pesimisto (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · cs škarohlíd (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · gv doo-aignagh (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · da pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · pt pessimista (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · id pesimis (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ja ペシミスト (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · fr pessimiste (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · ko 염세가 (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · nb pessimist (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · co pessimistu (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome) · pl czarnowidz (someone who habitually expects the worst outcome)