noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   a tendency to expect the best, or at least, a favourable outcome uncountable, usually

   "I love her youth, her beauty and above all her optimism that everything will turn out fine."

2. 2
   a general disposition to expect the best in all things wordnet
3. 3
   the doctrine that this world is the best of all possible worlds uncountable, usually
4. 4
   the optimistic feeling that all is going to turn out well wordnet
5. 5
   the belief that good will eventually triumph over evil uncountable, usually

Synonyms

All synonyms

atomismblithenessblithesomenessbright outlookbright sidebrightness

Antonyms

All antonyms

declinismpessimism

Example

More examples

"That proved to be no more than an expression of optimism when World War II began."

Etymology

From French optimisme, equivalent to Latin optimus + -ism.

Related phrases

techno-optimismfavorable outlookpositive thought

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.