optimist
Americannoun
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an optimistic person.
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a person who holds the belief or the doctrine of optimism.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of optimist
First recorded in 1760–70; from French optimiste, from Latin optim(um) ( see optimum) + French -iste -ist
Explanation
An optimist is someone who always sees the bright side of any situation — a trait that can be either encouraging or annoying, depending on your frame of mind. Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” When you think about the problems in the world, it might sometimes be difficult to remain an optimist. Yet some people just naturally look for the silver lining, like Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh stories who, when admitting that it's still snowing and freezing, remarks, "However, we haven't had an earthquake lately." Now that's an optimist!
Vocabulary lists containing optimist
Fish in a Tree
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100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Home of the Brave
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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.
"I was born an optimist," he told me.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
Whether you are an A.I. optimist or pessimist, you’d ideally agree that few industries have ever screamed out more for intense scrutiny at a particular moment than generative A.I. does right now.
From Slate • Apr. 7, 2026
A dreamy optimist, he set sail in a rush, hoping for the best.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
An optimist would say the market overreacted and now it’s time to get on with our lives.
From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025
Still, he was an eternal optimist, so he kept the great cage of the fifth level always in readiness.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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.
