defeatist

[dih-fee-tist]

noun

1. a person who surrenders easily or is subject to defeatism.

2. an advocate or follower of defeatism as a public policy.

adjective

1. marked by defeatism.

Word History and Origins

Origin of defeatist¹

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

Example Sentences

The noises coming out of Old Trafford from Amorim and his players felt despondent and defeatist in the immediate aftermath of United's failure to reach the Champions League.

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Solomon: Well, certainly the money is huge, but we want to be realistic without being defeatists.

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The UK's never going to attract world-class talent if all we do is look down on the contest and approach it with a defeatist attitude.

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The prime minister accused her of being a "climate defeatist".

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This sounds defeatist - it shouldn’t be on parents to come up with all the policy solutions in what is an incredibly complicated space.

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Related Words

• cynic 
• worrier