pessimism
/ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/noun
pessimism is spelled P-E-S-S-I-M-I-S-M: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pessimism means “A general belief that bad things will happen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pessimism is pessimisms.
How many letters and syllables are in pessimism?
| Letters | 9: P-E-S-S-I-M-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th 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 pessimism?
Pessimism appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th 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 pessimism?
- /ˈpɛsɪmɪzəm/
Pessimism has 4 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-pessimism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pessimism
- pessimisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pessimism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A general belief that bad things will happen.
- 2
The doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds.
- 3
The condition of being pessimal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pessimism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense general belief that bad things will happen:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pessimisme |
| German | Pessimismus |
| Portuguese | pessimismo |
| Spanish | pesimismo |
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.
Where does pessimism come from?
From French pessimisme, from Latin pessimus (“worst”) + -ism, superlative of malus (“bad”). As a doctrine, from German Pessimismus as used by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in 1819.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).