pessimism: [18] The first English writer on record as using pessimism was the poet Coleridge, in the 1790s. But he employed it for the ‘worst possible state’. The modern sense ‘expecting the worst’ did not emerge until the early 19th century. The word was probably coined first in French, and was based on Latin pessimus ‘worst’.
pessimism (n.)
1794 "worst condition possible," borrowed (by Coleridge) from French pessimisme, formed (on model of French optimisme) from Latin pessimus "worst," originally "bottom-most," from PIE *ped-samo-, superlative of root *pes- "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). As a name given to the doctrines of Schopenhauer, Hartmann, etc., that this is the worst possible world, or that everything tends toward evil, it is first recorded 1835, from German pessimismus (Schopenhauer, 1819). The attempt to make a verb of it as pessimize (1862) did not succeed.
双语例句
1. Optimism was gradually taking the place of pessimism.
乐观情绪逐渐取代了悲观主义。
来自柯林斯例句
2. There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects.
公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
来自《权威词典》
3. There were good grounds for pessimism about future progress.
