defeatist

[ dih-fee-tist ]

/ dɪˈfi tɪst /

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See synonyms for: defeatist / defeatists on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who surrenders easily or is subject to defeatism.

an advocate or follower of defeatism as a public policy.

adjective

marked by defeatism.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of defeatist

1915–20; defeat + -ist, modeled on French défaitiste

Words nearby defeatist

defease, defeasible, defeat, defeated, defeatism, defeatist, defeature, defecate, defecation, defect, defected

How to use defeatist in a sentence

It is a rotten form of weakness, a defeatist and pacifist attitude that only can mean defeat.
The long history of American Nazism — and why we can’t forget it today|Ronald Granieri, Susan MacNeal|July 13, 2021|Washington Post
Unfortunately, this sort of defeatist measure was recently proposed in the House of Representatives.
The Government is Still Failing Kids on School Lunches|Russell Saunders|May 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If anything is hopeless—and breeds hopelessness—it is this defeatist approach.
What Roger Cohen Gets Wrong|Yousef Munayyer|March 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And the Republican candidates are indeed attacking him as defeatist and weak.
The GOP's War Hypocrisy|Peter Beinart|October 31, 2011|DAILY BEAST

I will take her any day over the “educated class,” the bureaucratic mollusks and the defeatist sad sacks in Washington.
In Defense of Tea Parties|Tunku Varadarajan|January 11, 2010|DAILY BEAST
In fact, he routinely refers to the traditional Muslim clergy as “imams of infidelity,” “defeatist imams,” or “hypocrite imams.”
Now He's 52|Reza Aslan|March 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Moreover, now that I had had time to meditate upon it, I was more than ever defeatist about this scheme of Jeeves's.
Right Ho, Jeeves|P. G. Wodehouse
But do you honestly think I could entertain such a defeatist notion for one instant?
Deathworld|Harry Harrison
Maybe it was being defeatist, yet he had to make sure that they had a way off this planet if the mission failed.
Sense of Obligation|Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)
"You can't afford to get defeatist about this, Rod," Biddington went on.
The Merchants of Venus|A. H. Phelps
Since April sixth insidious defeatist propaganda had permeated the mass of the people.
Paris Vistas|Helen Davenport Gibbons

defeatist

Origin of defeatist

Words nearby defeatist

Words related to defeatist

How to use defeatist in a sentence