noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P EH1 S AH0 M IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A general belief that bad things will happen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The condition of being pessimal.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a general disposition to look on the dark side and to expect the worst in all things
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: optimism
Broader terms: disposition, temperament
5
noun
Meaning 5
the feeling that things will turn out badly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: optimism
Broader terms: despair
Narrower terms: cynicism
History
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.
Across languages
Translations
79 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
humbashpresë
— general belief that bad things will happen
Arabic:
تَشَاؤُم
(tašāʔum)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Armenian:
հոռետեսություն
(hoṙetesutʻyun)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Basque:
ezkortasun
— general belief that bad things will happen
Belarusian:
песімі́зм
(pjesimízm)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Bulgarian:
песими́зъм
(pesimízǎm)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Catalan:
pessimisme
— general belief that bad things will happen
Chinese Mandarin:
悲觀情緒 /悲观情绪
(bēiguān qíngxù)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Czech:
pesimismus
— general belief that bad things will happen
Czech:
škarohlídství
— general belief that bad things will happen
Dutch:
pessimisme
— general belief that bad things will happen
Finnish:
pessimismi
— general belief that bad things will happen
French:
pessimisme
— general belief that bad things will happen
Galician:
pesimismo
— general belief that bad things will happen
Georgian:
პესიმიზმი
(ṗesimizmi)
— general belief that bad things will happen
German:
Pessimismus
— general belief that bad things will happen
Greek:
απαισιοδοξία
(apaisiodoxía)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Hebrew:
פסימיזם
— general belief that bad things will happen
Hebrew:
פסימיות
— general belief that bad things will happen
Hindi:
निराशावाद
(nirāśāvād)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Hungarian:
pesszimizmus
— general belief that bad things will happen
Hungarian:
borúlátás
— general belief that bad things will happen
Indonesian:
pesimisme
— general belief that bad things will happen
Italian:
pessimismo
— general belief that bad things will happen
Japanese:
悲観
(hikan)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Korean:
비관
(bigwan)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Lü:
ᦣᧆᦋᦲᧁ
(hadtsiiw)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Macedonian:
песимизам
(pesimizam)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Māori:
ngākau hākerekere
— general belief that bad things will happen
Māori:
hākerekeretanga
— general belief that bad things will happen
Persian:
بدبینی
(badbini)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Polish:
pesymizm
— general belief that bad things will happen
Portuguese:
pessimismo
— general belief that bad things will happen
Romanian:
pesimism
— general belief that bad things will happen
Russian:
пессими́зм
(pessimízm)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Serbo-Croatian:
песимѝзам
— general belief that bad things will happen
Serbo-Croatian:
pesimìzam
— general belief that bad things will happen
Spanish:
pesimismo
— general belief that bad things will happen
Swedish:
pessimism
— general belief that bad things will happen
Swedish:
svartsyn
— general belief that bad things will happen
Turkish:
pesimizm
— general belief that bad things will happen
Turkish:
kötümserlik
— general belief that bad things will happen
Turkish:
karamsarlık
— general belief that bad things will happen
Turkish:
pesimistlik
— general belief that bad things will happen
Ukrainian:
песимі́зм
(pesymízm)
— general belief that bad things will happen
Vietnamese:
bi quan
— general belief that bad things will happen
Volapük:
badim
— general belief that bad things will happen
Arabic:
تَشَاؤُم
(tašāʔum)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Armenian:
հոռետեսություն
(hoṙetesutʻyun)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Bengali:
নৈরাশ্যবাদ
(nōiraśśobad)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Catalan:
pessimisme
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Chinese Mandarin:
悲觀主義 /悲观主义
(bēiguānzhǔyì)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Finnish:
pessimismi
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
French:
pessimisme
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Galician:
pesimismo
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
German:
Pessimismus
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Hungarian:
pesszimizmus
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Indonesian:
pesimisme
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Japanese:
悲観主義
(hikanshugi)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Japanese:
厭世主義
(enseishugi)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Japanese:
厭世観
(enseikan)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Kazakh:
пессимизм
(pessimizm)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Kazakh:
үмітсіздік
(ümıtsızdık)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Korean:
염세주의
(yeomsejuui)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Korean:
비관주의
(bigwanjuui)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Korean:
페시미즘
(pesimijeum)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Malayalam:
നൈരാശ്യവാദം
(nairāśyavādaṁ)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Portuguese:
pessimismo
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Russian:
пессими́зм
(pessimízm)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Serbo-Croatian:
песимѝзам
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Serbo-Croatian:
pesimìzam
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Tamil:
இழநம்பிக்கை
(iḻanampikkai)
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Thai:
ทุทรรศนนิยม
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Thai:
ทุนิยม
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Turkish:
pesimizm
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Turkish:
kötümserlik
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Turkish:
karamsarlık
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Vietnamese:
bi quan triết học
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
Volapük:
badim
— doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds
