optimist
/ˈɑptɪmɪst/noun
optimist is spelled O-P-T-I-M-I-S-T: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, optimist means “A person who expects a favourable outcome” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of optimist is optimists.
How many letters and syllables are in optimist?
| Letters | 8: O-P-T-I-M-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is optimist?
Optimist appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce optimist?
- US /ˈɑptɪmɪst/
- UK /ˈɒptɪmɪst/
Optimist has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-optimist.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of optimist
- optimists plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does optimist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who expects a favourable outcome.
- 2
A believer in optimism.
noun
- 1
A small centreboard sailing dinghy designed to train and introduce young children into sailing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Optimist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a person who expects a favourable outcome:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.