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.

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistic

Antonyms

• optimism

Translations

general belief that bad things will happen

• Arabic: تَشَاؤُم‎ m (tašāʾum)
• Catalan: pessimisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悲觀情緒, 悲观情绪 (bēiguān qíngxù)

• Czech: pesimismus m
• Finnish: pessimismi (fi)
• French: pessimisme (fr) m
• Galician: pesimismo m
• German: Pessimismus (de) m
• Greek: απαισιοδοξία (el) f (apaisiodoxía)
• Hungarian: pesszimizmus (hu)

• Japanese: 悲観 (ja) (hikan), 悲観論 (hikan-ron), 厭世主義 (ensei-shugi)
• Korean: 비관 (ko) (bi-gwan,悲觀)
• Persian: بدبینی‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: pessimismo (pt) m
• Romanian: pesimism (ro) n
• Russian: пессими́зм (ru) m (pessimízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: pesimìzam (sh) m
• Spanish: pesimismo m
• Swedish: pessimism (sv) c, svartsyn c
• Turkish: pesimizm (tr), kötümserlik (tr), karamsarlık (tr)
• Volapük: badim (vo)

doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds

• Arabic: تَشَاؤُم‎ m (tašāʾum)
• Catalan: pessimisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悲觀主義 (zh), 悲观主义 (zh) (bēiguān zhǔyì)

• Finnish: pessimismi (fi)
• French: pessimisme (fr) m
• Galician: pesimismo m
• German: Pessimismus (de) m

• Hungarian: pesszimizmus (hu)
• Japanese: 悲観論 (hikan-ron)
• Portuguese: pessimismo (pt) m
• Russian: пессими́зм (ru) m (pessimízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: pesimìzam (sh) m
• Turkish: pesimizm (tr), kötümserlik (tr), karamsarlık (tr)
• Volapük: badim (vo)

Further reading

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

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Swedish

Noun

pessimism c

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

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistisk

Antonyms

• optimism

Declension

Declension of pessimism

	uncountable		uncountable
Common	indefinite	definite
nominative	pessimism	pessimismen
genitive	pessimisms	pessimismens