optimism

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑptɪmɪzəm/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒptɪmɪzəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

optimism (usually uncountable, plural optimisms)

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

   Antonyms: pessimism, hopelessness

   Hyponyms: cyberoptimism, overoptimism, techno-optimism

   Coordinate terms: hope, hopefulness (overlaps)

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

   • 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC‎^[1], archived from the original on 6 September 2026:

     Hanks is known as being an avid reader of history and biography, and seems to seek out stories which offer a certain optimism and humanism. In other words, he plays – fundamentally – good people.

2. The doctrine that this world is the best of all possible worlds.

   Antonyms: pessimism, dystopianism

3. The belief that good will eventually triumph over evil.

   Antonym: pessimism

Derived terms

• cyberoptimism
• overoptimism
• poptimism
• techno-optimism

Related terms

• optimal
• optimist
• optimistic
• optimistically
• optimization
• optimize
• suboptimal

Translations

a tendency to expect the best

• Arabic: تَفَاؤُل m (tafāʔul)
• Armenian: լավատեսություն (hy) (lavatesutʻyun)
• Belarusian: аптымі́зм m (aptymízm)
• Bulgarian: оптими́зъм (bg) m (optimízăm)
• Catalan: optimisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 樂觀主義 / 乐观主义 (zh) (lèguānzhǔyì)

• Czech: optimismus (cs) m
• Dutch: optimisme (nl) n
• Finnish: optimismi (fi)
• French: optimisme (fr) m
• Galician: optimismo m
• Georgian: ოპტიმიზმი (oṗṭimizmi)
• German: Optimismus (de) m, Zuversicht (de) f
• Greek: αισιοδοξία (el) f (aisiodoxía)
• Hebrew: אופטימיות f (optímiut)
• Hindi: आशावाद m (āśāvād)
• Hungarian: optimizmus (hu), derűlátás (hu)
• Italian: ottimismo (it) m
• Japanese: 楽観主義 (らっかんしゅぎ, rakkanshugi)
• Korean: 낙천주의 (nakcheonjuui)
• Low German:

  German Low German: Toversicht f, Optimismus m

• Māori: ngākau rorotu
• Marathi: आशावाद m (āśāvād)
• Norwegian: optimisme m
• Persian: خوش‌بینی (fa) (xoš-bini)
• Polish: optymizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: otimismo (pt) m
• Romanian: optimism (ro) n
• Russian: оптими́зм (ru) m (optimízm)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оптимѝзам m

  Latin: optimìzam (sh) m

• Spanish: optimismo (es) m
• Swedish: optimism (sv) c
• Turkish: optimizm (tr), iyimserlik (tr)
• Ukrainian: оптимі́зм m (optymízm)
• Vietnamese: sự lạc quan
• Volapük: fredim (vo)

the doctrine that this world is the best of all possible worlds

• Arabic: تَفَاؤُل m (tafāʔul)
• Catalan: optimisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 樂觀主義 / 乐观主义 (zh) (lèguānzhǔyì)

• Finnish: optimismi (fi)
• French: optimisme (fr) m
• Galician: optimismo m
• Greek: αισιοδοξία (el) f (aisiodoxía)
• Japanese: 楽観主義 (らっかんしゅぎ, rakkanshugi)
• Norwegian: optimisme m
• Portuguese: otimismo (pt) m
• Russian: оптими́зм (ru) m (optimízm)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оптимѝзам m

  Latin: optimìzam (sh) m

• Thai: สุทรรศนนิยม, สุนิยม
• Turkish: optimizm (tr), iyimserlik (tr)
• Volapük: fredim (vo)

the belief that good will eventually triumph over evil

• Arabic: تَفَاؤُل m (tafāʔul)
• Catalan: optimisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 樂觀主義 / 乐观主义 (zh) (lèguānzhǔyì)

• Finnish: optimismi (fi)
• French: optimisme (fr) m
• Greek: αισιοδοξία (el) f (aisiodoxía)
• Japanese: 楽観主義 (らっかんしゅぎ, rakkanshugi)
• Norwegian: optimisme m
• Portuguese: otimismo (pt) m
• Russian: оптими́зм (ru) m (optimízm)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оптимѝзам m

  Latin: optimìzam (sh) m

• Volapük: fredim (vo)

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi

Proto-Indo-European *-tm̥mos

?

Latin optimus

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *-mós

Ancient Greek -μός (-mós)

Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)bor.

Latin -ismuslbor.

French -isme

French optimismebor.

Romanian optimism

Borrowed from French optimisme. By surface analysis, optim + -ism.

Noun

optimism n (uncountable)

1. optimism

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	optimism	optimismul
genitive-dative	optimism	optimismului
vocative	optimismule

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

optimism c

1. optimism

   Antonym: pessimism

Declension

Declension of optimism

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	optimism	optimisms
	definite	optimismen	optimismens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Related terms

• optimist
• optimistisk

References

• “optimism”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “optimism”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “optimism”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)