pessimism.

A tendency to expect unfavorable outcomes or emphasize the unfavorable possibilities in a situation.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• persistent pessimism
• pessimism about the future

On the page

His pessimism about the future exceeded what the incomplete evidence could support.

Persistent pessimism shaped which possibilities the narrator considered worth describing.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / character / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: characterization, motivation analysis, behavioral comparison, qualification. Disciplines: psychology, social behavior, character writing. Commonness: common.