pessimism

pessimism
pessimism 1794 "worst condition possible," borrowed (by Coleridge) from Fr. pessimisme, formed (on model of Fr. optimisme) from L. pessimus "worst," originally "bottom-most," from PIE *ped-samo-, superlative of root *pes- "foot" (see FOOT (Cf. foot)). As a name given to the doctrines of Schopenhauer, Hartmann, etc., that this is the worst possible world, or that everything tends toward evil, it is first recorded 1878, from Ger. pessimismus (Schopenhauer, 1819).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Pessimism — • Term applied in popular language to persons who habitually take a melancholy view of life; or in philosophy, to a system that attempts to account for the presence of evil in the world. Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Pessimism      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pessimism — Pes si*mism, n. [L. pessimus worst, superl. of pejor worse: cf. F. pessimisme. Cf. {Impair}.] 1. (Metaph.) The opinion or doctrine that everything in nature is ordered for or tends to the worst, or that the world is wholly evil; opposed to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pessimism — I noun blighted hope, cheerlessness, cynicism, dashed hopes, defeatism, dejectedness, dejection, depression, despair, desperation, despondence, despondency, disconsolation, discouragement, disheartenment, dispiritedness, dolefulness, downcastness …   Law dictionary

  • pessimism — [n] belief in bad outcome cynicism, dark side*, dejection, depression, despair, despondency, dim view*, distrust, dyspepsia, expectation of worst, gloom, gloominess, gloomy outlook, glumness, grief, hopelessness, low spirits, melancholy, sadness …   New thesaurus

  • pessimism — ► NOUN 1) lack of hope or confidence in the future. 2) Philosophy a belief that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good. DERIVATIVES pessimist noun pessimistic adjective pessimistically adverb. ORIGIN… …   English terms dictionary

  • pessimism — [pes′ə miz΄əm] n. [Fr pessimisme < L pessimus, worst, superl. of pejor, worse: see PEJORATIVE] 1. Philos. a) the doctrine or belief that the existing world is the worst possible b) the doctrine or belief that the evil in life outweighs the… …   English World dictionary

  • Pessimism — Is the glass half empty or half full? The pessimist would pick half empty, while the optimist would choose half full. Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus (worst), is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may… …   Wikipedia

  • pessimism — pessimist pes‧si‧mist [ˈpesmɪst] noun [countable] someone who always expects that things will get worse or that bad things will happen in the future: • Pessimists are predicting a downturn in the economy. opposite optimist pessimistic adjective… …   Financial and business terms

  • pessimism — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ deep, widespread ▪ the widespread pessimism among young people today ▪ undue ▪ He warned against the dangers of undue pessimism. VERB + PESSIMISM …   Collocations dictionary

  • pessimism — n. 1) to display pessimism 2) to overcome pessimism 3) pessimism about, at, over * * * at over to display pessimism to overcome pessimism pessimism about …   Combinatory dictionary

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