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16 results for: pessimism

Dictionary Entries (7 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
pes·si·mism    Audio Help   [pes-uh-miz-uhm] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes, results, conditions, problems, etc.: His pessimism about the future of our country depresses me.
2.the doctrine that the existing world is the worst of all possible worlds, or that all things naturally tend to evil.
3.the belief that the evil and pain in the world are not compensated for by goodness and happiness.
[Origin: 1785–95; < L pessim(us), suppletive superl. of malus bad + -ism; modeled on optimism]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  pessimism
Part of Speech:  adjective
Synonyms:  gloomy, morose, pessimistic, satirical
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.
  Roget's II: The New ThesaurusCite This Source
Main Entry:  pessimism
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  The doctrine that this world is evil.
Synonyms:  malism
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  pessimism
Part of Speech:  noun
Synonyms:  cynicism, despair, gloom, hopelessness, melancholy, melancholia, weltschmerz
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.

Encyclopedia Articles (4 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


pessimism, philosophical opinion or doctrine that evil predominates over good; the opposite of optimism. Systematic forms of pessimism may be found in philosophy and religion. In religion Buddhism and Hinduism pessimistically appraise the world, while Christianity's pessimism is more restricted. Numerous philosophers have been pessimistic, notably Arthur Schopenhauer in the 19th cent. and Martin Heidegger in the 20th cent. 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press




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