pessimism

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

pessimism (usually uncountable, plural pessimisms)

1. A general belief that bad things will happen.

   Hyponym: declinism

   • 2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     T2 isn’t as good as T1: it is a little too long and unwinds a bit into caper sentimentality, broad comedy and self-mythologising. But it has the same punchy energy, the same defiant pessimism, and there’s nothing around like it. This sequel was a high-wire act, but Boyle has made it to the other side.

2. The doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds.
3. (computing) The condition of being pessimal.

Antonyms

• optimism

Derived terms

• Afro-pessimism
• cultural pessimism
• ecopessimism
• Judeopessimism

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistic

Translations

general belief that bad things will happen

• Arabic: تَشَاؤُم m (tašāʔum)
• Armenian: հոռետեսություն (hy) (hoṙetesutʻyun)
• Basque: ezkortasun
• 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)
• Maori: ngākau hākerekere, hākerekeretanga
• 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 (sv) 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 (tašāʔum)
• Armenian: հոռետեսություն (hy) (hoṙetesutʻyun)
• Bengali: নৈরাশ্যবাদ (nōiraśśobad)
• 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 (nairāśyavādaṁ)
• 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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “pessimism”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “pessimism”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Swedish

Noun

pessimism c

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

   Antonym: optimism

Declension

Declension of pessimism

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	pessimism	pessimisms
	definite	pessimismen	pessimismens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistisk

References

• pessimism in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• pessimism in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• pessimism in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)