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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

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

• Afro-pessimism
• cultural pessimism
• ecopessimism

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistic

Translations

general belief that bad things will happen

• Arabic: تَشَاؤُم m (tašāʔum)
• Armenian: հոռետեսություն (hy) (hoṙetesutʿyun)
• 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) (hoṙetesutʿyun)
• 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
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	pessimism	pessimismen	—	—
Genitive	pessimisms	pessimismens	—	—

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistisk

References

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