pessimist
/ˈpɛsɪmɪst/noun
pessimist is spelled P-E-S-S-I-M-I-S-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pessimist means “Someone who habitually expects the worst outcome; one who looks on the dark side of things” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pessimist is pessimists.
How many letters and syllables are in pessimist?
| Letters | 9: P-E-S-S-I-M-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,187th 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 pessimist?
Pessimist appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th 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 pessimist?
- /ˈpɛsɪmɪst/
Pessimist 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-pessimist.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pessimist
- pessimists plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pessimist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Someone who habitually expects the worst outcome; one who looks on the dark side of things.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pessimist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense someone who habitually expects the worst outcome:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pessimiste |
| German | Pessimist, Pessimistin |
| Portuguese | pessimista |
| Spanish | pesimista, agorero |
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 pessimist come from?
From French pessimiste, from Latin pessimus (“worst”) + -ist.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).