optimism

[op-tuh-miz-uhm]

noun

a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

the belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world.

the belief that goodness pervades reality.

the doctrine that the existing world is the best of all possible worlds.

Origin of optimism

1730–40; < French optimisme < Latin optim(um) (see optimum) + French -isme -ism

Related formsan·ti·op·ti·mism, nouno·ver·op·ti·mism, noun

Synonyms for optimism

1. confidence, hopefulness, cheerfulness.

Antonyms for optimism

1, 2. pessimism, cynicism.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for overoptimism

Contemporary Examples of overoptimism

And so Jindal's mix of anger and overoptimism fits the moment.
How Oil Saved Bobby Jindal
Reihan Salam
May 21, 2010

Historical Examples of overoptimism

I urged the PM to be cautious about overoptimism in giving out the news.
Greener Than You Think
Ward Moore

British Dictionary definitions for overoptimism

overoptimism

noun

excessive hopefulness or confidence

optimism

noun

the tendency to expect the best and see the best in all things

hopefulness; confidence

the doctrine of the ultimate triumph of good over evil

the philosophical doctrine that this is the best of all possible worlds

Compare pessimism

Derived Formsoptimist, nounoptimistic or optimistical, adjectiveoptimistically, adverb

Word Origin for optimism

C18: from French optimisme, from Latin optimus best, superlative of bonus good

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for overoptimism

optimism

1759 (in translations of Voltaire), from French optimisme (1737), from Modern Latin optimum, used by Gottfried Leibniz (in "Théodicée," 1710) to mean "the greatest good," from Latin optimus "the best" (see optimum). The doctrine holds that the actual world is the "best of all possible worlds," in which the creator accomplishes the most good at the cost of the least evil.

En termes de l'art, il l'appelle la raison du meilleur ou plus savamment encore, et Theologiquement autant que Géométriquement, le systême de l'Optimum, ou l'Optimisme. [Mémoires de Trévoux, Feb. 1737]

Launched out of philosophical jargon and into currency by Voltaire's satire on it in "Candide." General sense of "belief that good ultimately will prevail in the world" first attested 1841 in Emerson; meaning "tendency to take a hopeful view of things" first recorded 1819 in Shelley.