# pessimistic

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˌpɛ.səˈmɪs.tɪk/ · frequency rank #21,023

## Definitions
1. Marked by pessimism and little hopefulness; expecting the worst.
2. Pertaining to the worst-case scenario.
3. Taking out exclusive locks on data to prevent conflicts with other processes that might modify it.

## Etymology
From pessimist + -ic.

## Easily confused with
- **pessimist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pessimist-vs-pessimistic)

## Common misspellings (15)
`epssimistic`, `pesimistic`, `pesismistic`, `pessiimstic`, `pessimisitc`, `pessimisstic`, `pessimistci`, `pessimisticc`, `pessimisttic`, `pessimitsic`, `pessimmistic`, `pessimsitic`, `pessmiistic`, `ppessimistic`, `psesimistic`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pessimistic