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pessimistically

pessimistically

1 5.4
Expecting bad results and showing little hope
  • adverb
  • /ˌpɛsɪˈmɪstɪkli/
translation icon : pessimísticamente
  • Similarly, a 1995 World Bank study titled Global Economic Prospects and Developing Countries concluded pessimistically on the outlook for economic growth and development in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • conclude pessimistically

So when I begin to think pessimistically, it's time for a hike.

Examples

  • Malthus pessimistically anticipated that "Necessity, the all-imperious, all-pervasive law of nature," would periodically produce an unproductive, starving surplus population (Malthus 72).

    Academic text (2017)
  • GM: I tend to write rather pessimistically and critically because things that are suspicious and distrustful are easier to be accepted and passed off as signs of a careful professional attitude.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • So when I begin to think pessimistically, it's time for a hike.

  • I hope you can, she thought pessimistically, but I'm not going to bet on it

    Fiction book (1990)
  • He always looked slightly worried and spoke pessimistically about almost everything.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Brett: I gave two projections for the team: pessimistically, 13 wins.

    Blog text (10)
  • Kroosew sighed pessimistically.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And if this might be said pessimistically about the practice of multinational corporations involved in propagating world music, a similarly bleak account can be given of the music's consumption itself.

    Academic text (2009)
  • One of the most thoughtful of the few recent accounts of its prospects in the 1990s concluded pessimistically that "the centre is now more dominant, and the periphery more subordinate than at any time since decolonization began" (Buzan, 1991: 451).

    Academic text (1992)
  • When faced with setbacks, she often thinks pessimistically that things will never improve.

Synonyms

gloomily
vspessimistically
3 4.1

In a sad way that shows no hope

emphasizes expecting worst outcomes rather than general sadness
bleakly
vspessimistically
2 6.2

In a way that shows no hope or cheer

carries expectation of bad results rather than only grim tone
despairingly
vspessimistically
1 6.1

In a way that shows no hope

is a general expectation of bad outcomes rather than total hopelessness
despondently
vspessimistically
1 7.3

In a sad, hopeless way that shows you have lost hope

focuses on expecting worst rather than losing confidence
dispiritedly
vspessimistically
1 7.4

In a sad way that shows no hope

expresses expecting bad outcomes rather than low energy
forebodingly
vspessimistically
8.4

In a way that shows something bad will happen

is an internal expectation of worst outcomes, not a warning sign

Antonyms

108 1.3

In a way that shows you want something to happen

Shows hope and confidence about the future

How Pessimistic

despairingly
1 6.1
gloomily
3 4.1
pessimistically
1 5.4
realistically
68 3.9
hopefully
108 1.3

Surface Forms

pessimistically positive
pessimisticallyer comparative
pessimisticallyest superlative

Morphology

pessimistically = pessimistic (transparent) = pessimist + ic + ally

The adverb is a regular derivation from the adjective 'pessimistic' using the productive adverbial suffix '-ally'.

Etymology

The word pessimistically comes from pessimist, from an old Latin word pessimus meaning 'worst'. So, to look at something pessimistically is to expect the worst, the opposite of being hopeful or 'optimistic'.