pessimism

pessimism

English

Etymology

From French pessimisme, from Latin pessimus (“worst”), superlative of malus (“bad”).As a doctrine, from German Pessimismus as used by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in 1819.

Noun

pessimism (usually uncountable, plural pessimisms)

1. A general belief that bad things will happen.
2. The doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds.
3. (computing) The condition of being pessimal.

Antonyms

• optimism

Derived terms

• cultural pessimism
• ecopessimism

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistic

Translations

general belief that bad things will happen

Arabic: تَشَاؤُم‎ m (tašāʾum) Armenian: հոռետեսություն (hy) (hoṙetesutʿyun) Belarusian: песімі́зм m (pjesimízm) Bulgarian: песими́зъм (bg) m (pesimízǎm) Catalan: pessimisme (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 悲觀情緒／悲观情绪 (bēiguān qíngxù) Czech: pesimismus (cs) m Dutch: pessimisme (nl) n Finnish: pessimismi (fi) French: pessimisme (fr) m Galician: pesimismo m Georgian: პესიმიზმი (ṗesimizmi) German: Pessimismus (de) m Greek: απαισιοδοξία (el) f (apaisiodoxía) Hindi: निराशावाद m (nirāśāvād) Hungarian: pesszimizmus (hu), borúlátás (hu) Italian: pessimismo (it) m Japanese: 悲観 (ja) (ひかん, hikan) Korean: 비관(悲觀) (ko) (bigwan) Lü: ᦣᧆᦋᦲᧁ (hadtsiiw) Macedonian: песимизам m (pesimizam) Persian: بدبینی‎ (fa) (badbini) Polish: pesymizm (pl) m Portuguese: pessimismo (pt) m Romanian: pesimism (ro) n Russian: пессими́зм (ru) m (pessimízm) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: песимѝзам m Roman: pesimìzam (sh) m Spanish: pesimismo (es) m Swedish: pessimism (sv) c, svartsyn c Turkish: pesimizm (tr), kötümserlik (tr), karamsarlık (tr), pesimistlik Ukrainian: песимі́зм m (pesymízm) Vietnamese: bi quan (vi) (悲觀) Volapük: badim (vo)

doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds

Arabic: تَشَاؤُم‎ m (tašāʾum) Armenian: հոռետեսություն (hy) (hoṙetesutʿyun) Bengali: নৈরাশ্যবাদ (noiraśẏbad) Catalan: pessimisme (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 悲觀主義／悲观主义 (zh) (bēiguānzhǔyì) Finnish: pessimismi (fi) French: pessimisme (fr) m Galician: pesimismo m German: Pessimismus (de) m Hungarian: pesszimizmus (hu) Indonesian: pesimisme (id) Japanese: 悲観主義 (ひかんしゅぎ, hikanshugi), 厭世主義 (えんせいしゅぎ, enseishugi), 厭世観 (えんせいかん, enseikan) Kazakh: пессимизм (pessimizm), үмітсіздік (ümıtsızdık) Korean: 염세주의(厭世主義) (ko) (yeomsejuui), 비관주의(悲觀主義) (bigwanjuui), 페시미즘 (pesimijeum) Malayalam: നൈരാശ്യവാദം (nairāśyavādaṃ) Portuguese: pessimismo (pt) m Russian: пессими́зм (ru) m (pessimízm) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: песимѝзам m Roman: pesimìzam (sh) m Tamil: இழநம்பிக்கை (ta) (iḻanampikkai) Thai: ทุทรรศนนิยม, ทุนิยม Turkish: pesimizm (tr), kötümserlik (tr), karamsarlık (tr) Vietnamese: bi quan triết học (悲觀哲學) Volapük: badim (vo)

Further reading

• pessimism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• pessimism in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• pessimism at OneLook Dictionary Search

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Swedish

Noun

pessimism c

1. pessimism; a general belief that bad things will happen

Declension

Declension of pessimism
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	pessimism	pessimismen	—	—
Genitive	pessimisms	pessimismens	—	—

Antonyms

• optimism

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistisk