Meanings
optimist1
plural optimists
- A person who expects a favourable outcome.
2 more examples
We are becoming as a nation, as a world, indeed, atom-conscious. Many of us are already afflicted with atomphobia, though so far it has manifested itself only in a mirage of autoaeromotive discs and a war of words between chronic optimists and empirical pessimists concerning civilization’s probable future.
1947 September 27, Richard R. Werry, “An American Beginning for International Education”, in School and Society, volume 66, number 1709, Lancaster, Pa.: The Society for the Advancement of Education, Inc., page 238People often call me an optimist, because I show them the enormous progress they didn't know about. That makes me angry. I'm not an optimist. That makes me sound naive. I'm a very serious “possibilist”. That’s something I made up. It means someone who neither hopes without reason, nor fears without reason, someone who constantly resists the overdramatic worldview. As a possibilist, I see all this progress, and it fills me with conviction and hope that further progress is possible. This is not optimistic. It is having a clear and reasonable idea about how things are. It is having a worldview that is constructive and useful.;
2017, Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think - A believer in optimism.
Optimist2
plural Optimists
- nauticalA small centreboard sailing dinghy designed to train and introduce young children into sailing.
Synonyms: Oppy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small centreboard sailing dinghy designed to train and introduce young children into sailing.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Latinoptimus
- Frenchoptim(isme)
- Frenchoptimiste
- Englishoptimist
Borrowed from French optimiste.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُتَفَائِل
- مُتَفَائِل (mutafāʔil)a person who expects a favourable outcome
Catalan optimista, optimista
- optimistaa person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimistaa believer in optimism
Chinese Mandarin 樂天派 /乐天派
- 樂天派 /乐天派 (lètiānpài)a person who expects a favourable outcome
Czech optimista
- optimistaa person who expects a favourable outcome
Dutch optimist, optimist
- optimista person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimista small centre-board sailing dinghy
- optimista believer in optimism
Esperanto optimisto
- optimistoa person who expects a favourable outcome
Finnish optimisti, optimistijolla
- optimistia person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimistijollaa small centre-board sailing dinghy
French optimiste, optimiste
- optimistea person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimistea believer in optimism
German Optimist, Optimistin
- Optimista person who expects a favourable outcome
- Optimistina person who expects a favourable outcome
- Optimista believer in optimism
- Optimistina believer in optimism
Greek αισιόδοξος
- αισιόδοξος (aisiódoxos)a person who expects a favourable outcome
Hebrew אופטימי, אופטימיסט
- אופטימי (optími)a person who expects a favourable outcome
- אופטימיסט (optimíst)a person who expects a favourable outcome
- אופטימיסט (optimíst)a small centre-board sailing dinghy
- אופטימי (optími)a believer in optimism
- אופטימיסט (optimíst)a believer in optimism
Hungarian optimista
- optimistaa person who expects a favourable outcome
Japanese 楽観主義者, 楽観主義者
- 楽観主義者 (rakkan-shugisha)a person who expects a favourable outcome
- 楽観主義者 (rakkan-shugisha)a believer in optimism
Latvian optimists
- optimistsa person who expects a favourable outcome
Lithuanian optimistas
- optimistasa person who expects a favourable outcome
Māori kiri mariu
- kiri mariua person who expects a favourable outcome
Norwegian Optimist
- Optimista small centre-board sailing dinghy
Norwegian Bokmål optimist, optimistjolle
- optimista person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimistjollea small centre-board sailing dinghy
- optimista believer in optimism
Polish optymista, optymistka
- optymistaa person who expects a favourable outcome
- optymistkaa person who expects a favourable outcome
Portuguese otimista, otimista
- otimistaa person who expects a favourable outcome
- otimistaa believer in optimism
Romanian optimist, optimistă
- optimista person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimistăa person who expects a favourable outcome
Russian оптими́ст, оптими́стка
- оптими́ст (optimíst)a person who expects a favourable outcome
- оптими́стка (optimístka)a person who expects a favourable outcome
- оптими́ст (optimíst)a believer in optimism
- оптими́стка (optimístka)a believer in optimism
Spanish optimista
- optimistaa person who expects a favourable outcome
Swedish optimist, optimistjolle
- optimista person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimistjollea small centre-board sailing dinghy
- optimista believer in optimism
Turkish optimist, iyimser
- optimista person who expects a favourable outcome
- iyimsera person who expects a favourable outcome
- nikbina person who expects a favourable outcome
- optimista believer in optimism
- iyimsera believer in optimism
Ukrainian оптиміст
- оптиміст (optymist)a person who expects a favourable outcome
Vietnamese người lạc quan
- người lạc quana person who expects a favourable outcome
Cite this entry
optimist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optimist
“optimist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optimist. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “optimist,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optimist.
Source: optimist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.