Dictionary

pessimistic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɛ.səˈmɪs.tɪk/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English pessimist Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English pessimistic From pessimist + -ic.

Meanings

1. Marked by pessimism and little hopefulness; expecting the worst.
   • a pessimistic view of the future
   • Some, noting the obvious analogies between Soviet Communism and Nazism, had pessimistic forebodings as to the inevitability of totalitarian systems throughout the world. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 215:
2. Pertaining to the worst-case scenario.
   • a pessimistic estimate
   • However pessimistic their predictions, most scientists and scholars who warn of impending disaster are really acting from antidystopian motives. 1996, George Thomas Kurian, Graham Thomas Tate Molitor, Encyclopedia of the future, volume 1, page 212:
3. Taking out exclusive locks on data to prevent conflicts with other processes that might modify it.
   • pessimistic concurrency; pessimistic locking

Forms

Antonyms

optimistic

Deriveds

pessimistically · pessimistic time · overpessimistic · unpessimistic · pessimistic concurrency · cyberpessimistic · ecopessimistic · heteropessimistic

Relateds

pessimist · pessimism · pessimal

Translations (69)

pdt dunkelsiedich (always expecting the worst) · sh pesimističan (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · es agorero (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · id pesimistis (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · vo badimik (always expecting the worst) · no pessimistisk (always expecting the worst) · vo badimik (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · gl pesimista (always expecting the worst) · fi pessimistinen (always expecting the worst) · es pesimista (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · hy հոռետեսական (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ca pessimista (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ru пессимисти́чный (always expecting the worst) · de pessimistisch (always expecting the worst) · pt pessimista (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · sh pesimističan (always expecting the worst) · pl pesymistyczny (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · sv pessimistisk (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · he פסימי (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · sh песимистичан (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · hy հոռետեսական (always expecting the worst) · mi (ngākau) hākerekere (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · hu borúlátó (always expecting the worst) · fi synkkä (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · bg песимисти́чен (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · it pessimistico (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · cs pesimistický (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · tr karamsar (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · pdt dunkelsiedich (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ca pessimista (always expecting the worst) · da pessimistisk (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · th มองโลกในแง่ร้าย (always expecting the worst) · uk песимісти́чний (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · be песімісты́чны (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · it pessimista (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · hu pesszimista (always expecting the worst) · sv pessimistisk (always expecting the worst) · tr kötümser (always expecting the worst) · fi synkkämielinen (always expecting the worst) · ar مُتَشَائِم (always expecting the worst) · sh песимистичан (always expecting the worst) · fi pessimistinen (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · yue 悲觀 /悲观 (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · cmn 悲觀的 /悲观的 (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · es pesimista (always expecting the worst) · cmn 悲觀的 /悲观的 (always expecting the worst) · fr pessimiste (always expecting the worst) · fa بد بینانه (always expecting the worst) · th มองโลกในแง่ร้าย (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · el απαισιόδοξος (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ja 悲観的 (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · hu pesszimista (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · tr pesimist (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · sk pesimistický (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · fa بدبین (always expecting the worst) · ko 비관적 (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · hu pesszimisztikus (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · id pesimistis (always expecting the worst) · is svartsýnn (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ja 悲観的 (always expecting the worst) · no pessimistisk (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · pt pessimista (always expecting the worst) · de pessimistisch (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · is bölsýnn (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · fr pessimiste (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ar مُتَشَائِم (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · el πεσιμιστικός (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · ru пессимисти́чный (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness) · gl pesimista (marked by pessimism and little hopefulness)