Meanings
nounpessimist (plural pessimists)
plural pessimists
- Someone who habitually expects the worst outcome; one who looks on the dark side of things.
I will not marry a pessimist, a born loser, a fellow who has no fight in him.
1940 September 29, “Letters Reveal Ordeals in France”, in The New York Times, page 121 more example
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 238Antonyms: optimist
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome; one who looks on the dark side of things.
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchpessimiste
- Englishpessimist
From French pessimiste, from Latin pessimus (“worst”) + -ist.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُتَشَائِم
- مُتَشَائِم (mutašāʔim)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Bulgarian песимист
- песимист (pesimist)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Catalan pessimista
- pessimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Chinese Mandarin 悲觀主義者 /悲观主义者
- 悲觀主義者 /悲观主义者 (bēiguānzhǔyìzhě)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Czech pesimista, škarohlíd
- pesimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- škarohlídsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Danish pessimist, sortseer
- pessimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- sortseersomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Dutch zwartdenker, doemdenker
- zwartdenkersomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- doemdenkersomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- pessimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Esperanto pesimisto, pesimistino
- pesimistosomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- pesimistinosomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- nigravidulosomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Estonian pessimist
- pessimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Finnish pessimisti
- pessimistisomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
French pessimiste
- pessimistesomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
German Pessimist, Pessimistin
- Pessimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- Pessimistinsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Greek απαισιόδοξος
- απαισιόδοξος (apaisiódoxos)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Hebrew פסימיסט
- פסימיסטsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Hungarian pesszimista
- pesszimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Icelandic svartsýnismaður
- svartsýnismaðursomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Indonesian pesimis
- pesimissomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Irish duarcán
- duarcánsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Italian pessimista
- pessimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Japanese 悲観主義者, 厭世家
- 悲観主義者 (hikanshugisha)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- 厭世家 (enseika)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- ペシミスト (peshimisuto)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Korean 염세가
- 염세가 (yeomsega)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Norwegian Bokmål pessimist
- pessimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Polish pesymista, pesymistka
- pesymistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- pesymistkasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- czarnowidzsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Portuguese pessimista
- pessimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Romanian pesimist, pesimistă
- pesimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- pesimistăsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Russian пессими́ст, пессими́стка
- пессими́ст (pessimíst)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- пессими́стка (pessimístka)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Slovak pesimista
- pesimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Spanish pesimista, agorero
- pesimistasomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- agorerosomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Swedish pessimist
- pessimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Turkish pesimist, kötümser
- pesimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- kötümsersomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- karamsarsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
- bedbinsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Ukrainian песимі́ст
- песимі́ст (pesymíst)someone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Welsh pesimist
- pesimistsomeone who habitually expects the worst outcome
Cite this entry
APA
pessimist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pessimist
MLA
“pessimist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pessimist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pessimist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pessimist.
Source: pessimist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.