optimism

Definitions

optim (best) + -ism (a doctrine or attitude) = literally 'best-ism' — the belief that things will turn out for the best. The word was coined in the 1730s to name Leibniz's claim that a perfect God must have made 'the best of all possible worlds.' The philosophy faded, but the everyday sense kept the core: looking on the bright side and expecting good outcomes.

Why It Means This

Optimism began as a hard philosophical claim, not a mood. In the 1730s it labeled Leibniz's argument that, because God is perfect, the world he created must be the best one possible — flaws and all. Voltaire ridiculed this in Candide, whose hero keeps insisting all is for the best even as disasters pile up. As the philosophical debate cooled, the word drifted into ordinary English to mean simply a hopeful outlook — but the buried logic is still there: an optimist quietly assumes the best outcome is the likely one.

Common Collocations

• 1.cautious optimism谨慎的乐观
• 2.guarded optimism有保留的乐观
• 3.a sense of optimism一种乐观情绪
• 4.renewed optimism重燃的乐观
• 5.grounds for optimism乐观的理由

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Despite the setbacks, she faced the new year with quiet optimism.

• 2.

  There is cautious optimism that the economy will recover next year.

• 3.

  His relentless optimism kept the whole team going through the crisis.

Easily Confused

optimism vs hope — hope is a feeling aimed at one specific outcome (I hope it stops raining). optimism is a general disposition — a habit of expecting good outcomes across situations. You can have optimism without a particular hope, and a single hope without being an optimist.