optimist
Americannoun
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optimists
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
Phil’s optimist these 17 seasons, has long been a Salzburg regular as well, and he arrived last week just in time to take up Kalesnikava’s challenge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But what type of fan are you - a die-hard enthusiast analysing all the tactics, a bag of nerves who watches from behind the sofa or an eternal optimist happy to go with the flow?
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Ever the optimist, Byford touts the quality of Chakrabarti’s design and Cipriano’s financial plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Ever the optimist, Huang has used his presentations—to investors and developers—to push back on the bear case.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Call me an optimist, but I’ll never give up hope that my family will take my art—and me—seriously.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Especially if AI accomplishes even a fraction of what the optimists think.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
"At least we'll get a fee," some optimists might have thought.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
The optimists, looking ahead to a peace deal, can expect the Treasury market to refocus on other drivers once the war ends, like the Fed.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
“The optimists who say we are turning the corner, and the people who say, ‘Well maybe if we had done this 10 or 15 years we’d be OK,’ but now, they’re not so sure.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
They were started by door-to-door salesmen, short-order cooks, orphans, and dropouts, by eternal optimists looking for a piece of the next big thing.
From "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser
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.
