Etymology
Origin of defeatist
Explanation
Having a defeatist attitude means that you give up before you've even started, like the runner who is so convinced he's going to lose the race that he doesn't even bother to go to the starting line. A defeatist is the opposite of an optimist. A defeatist is convinced that he's going to fail, and he isn't surprised when he does fail. This is how a defeatist might propose to his girlfriend: "I'm sure you're going to say 'no,' so why don't you just go ahead and reject me now."
Vocabulary lists containing defeatist
Internment
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The Boy Who Dared
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Dame Maggie Smith (1934–2024) Tribute List
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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.
None of this means the defeatist narrative is correct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
De Zerbi is fiercely competitive and must transmit that into his players; easier said than done given the timid, defeatist nature of their performances this season.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 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
Lying low in our green zone sounds pretty defeatist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
A dangerous lassitude hovered just out of range in his body; it was accompanied by a defeatist torpor.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
