optimism

[op-tuh-miz-uh m] /ˈɒp təˌmɪz əm/

noun

a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

the belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world.

the belief that goodness pervades reality.

the doctrine that the existing world is the best of all possible worlds.

Origin

1730-40; < French optimisme < Latin optim(um) (see optimum) + French -isme -ism

Related forms

antioptimism, noun

overoptimism, noun

Synonyms

1. confidence, hopefulness, cheerfulness.

Antonyms

1, 2. pessimism, cynicism.

Examples from the web for optimism

But despite the familiar urban problems, there's a goofy, energetic optimism afoot.
My heart is filled with optimism for the future of these storied cats.
But the picture is also poignant, in that the boundless optimism it captured has been tempered by tragedies and dead ends.
The principal doctor was lost in the imbecilities of a senile optimism.
He was still optimistic, but it was a less kinetic, a more thoughtful optimism.
The optimism has been tempered of late by business woes among telecommunication companies, but the technology remains impressive.
There was a catch in his voice, a note of forced optimism.
There is a lot of optimism going around the room as the final hours of approach are coming to a close.
Gamblers beware: sleep deprivation may increase a sense of optimism, causing people to take bigger risks.
My experience is that listening fast is also integral to one's optimism.

British Dictionary definitions for optimism

optimism

/ˈɒptɪˌmɪzəm/

noun

the tendency to expect the best and see the best in all things

hopefulness; confidence

the doctrine of the ultimate triumph of good over evil

the philosophical doctrine that this is the best of all possible worlds

Compare pessimism

Derived Forms

optimist, noun
optimistic, optimistical, adjective
optimistically, adverb

Word Origin

C18: from French optimisme, from Latin optimus best, superlative of bonus good

Word Origin and History for optimism

1759 (in translations of Voltaire), from French optimisme (1737), from Modern Latin optimum, used by Gottfried Leibniz (in "Théodicée," 1710) to mean "the greatest good," from Latin optimus "the best" (see optimum). The doctrine holds that the actual world is the "best of all possible worlds," in which the creator accomplishes the most good at the cost of the least evil.

En termes de l'art, il l'appelle la raison du meilleur ou plus savamment encore, et Theologiquement autant que Géométriquement, le systême de l'Optimum, ou l'Optimisme. [Mémoires de Trévoux, Feb. 1737]

Launched out of philosophical jargon and into currency by Voltaire's satire on it in "Candide." General sense of "belief that good ultimately will prevail in the world" first attested 1841 in Emerson; meaning "tendency to take a hopeful view of things" first recorded 1819 in Shelley.

optimism in Technology

What a programmer is full of after fixing the last bug and just before actually discovering the *next* last bug. Fred Brooks's book "The Mythical Man-Month" contains the following paragraph that describes this extremely well.
All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this modern sorcery especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and fairy god-mothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations drive away all but those who habitually focus on the end goal. Perhaps it is merely that computers are young, programmers are younger, and the young are always optimists. But however the selection process works, the result is indisputable: "This time it will surely run," or "I just found the last bug.".
See also Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology.
[Jargon File]