Etymology
Origin of defeatist
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But they were not defeatist, and not despondent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
And that's to do with how we frame things, not in a defeatist way of, “Oh, isn't it terrible they've done this, so we should all be suffering?”
From Salon • Oct. 24, 2024
Sir Jeffrey has now bitten back calling it "defeatist and negative".
From BBC • Nov. 2, 2023
Her words might sound defeatist, but her tone is resolute.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 2023
In my view, then, it was rather defeatist from a vocational standpoint to adopt a stance like Mr Graham's.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
