摘要：“Pessimism”源自拉丁语“pessimus”，意为“最坏的”，是“pejor”（更坏）的最高级形式。这个词在18世纪由法国哲学家让-雅克·卢梭首次引入哲学讨论，后由德国哲学家叔本华（Arthur Schopenhauer）发扬光大，形成了系统的悲观主义

pessimism

英 ['pesɪmɪzəm] 美 ['pesɪmɪzəm]

n.悲观；悲观主义

“Pessimism”源自拉丁语“pessimus”，意为“最坏的”，是“pejor”（更坏）的最高级形式。这个词在18世纪由法国哲学家让-雅克·卢梭首次引入哲学讨论，后由德国哲学家叔本华（Arthur Schopenhauer）发扬光大，形成了系统的悲观主义哲学。“Pessimism”在英语中于1794年由诗人塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治（Samuel Taylor Coleridge）首次记录使用，最初指一种认为世界本质上充满苦难的哲学观点，后扩展为描述个人或集体的消极态度。其反义词“optimism”（乐观主义）来自拉丁语“optimus”（最好的），形成鲜明对比。

◉外刊例句

① 《The Wall Street Journal》 (2023年12月10日)

Growing pessimism about the global economy has led investors to pull back from risky assets.

对全球经济日益增长的悲观情绪导致投资者从高风险资产中撤离。

② 《The Atlantic》 (2024年11月20日)

The report warned of a rising tide of pessimism among young people regarding climate change.

报告警告说，年轻人对气候变化的悲观情绪正在上升。

◉经典名著

① 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）——威廉·莎士比亚 (1603年)

His pessimism cloaked the court in gloom, as he mused on life’s futility.

他的悲观主义为宫廷蒙上了一层阴霾，他沉思着生命的徒劳。

② 《包法利夫人》（Madame Bovary）——古斯塔夫·福楼拜 (1856年，英译本)

Emma’s pessimism grew with each unfulfilled dream, poisoning her heart.

随着每一个未实现的梦想，艾玛的悲观情绪日益加重，毒害了她的心。

◉Usage Examples

(1) He has a tendency towards pessimism.

(2) He never gave himself up to pessimism in spite of difficulties.

(3) Pessimism is the hallmark of his major novels.

(4) All his father's power of seeing the worst, all his wife's nervous pessimism had come to the fore in him during the hour since he had been handed that message.

(1) 他有悲观的倾向。

(2) 尽管遇到困难他从没有消极悲观过。

(3) 悲观主义是他的几部小说的主要特征。

(4) 在他接到那个字条后的那段时间里，他父亲善于预见最恶劣的情况的能力，以及他的妻子神经质的悲观主义都令他思绪万千。

◉Usage Notes

Pessimism means thinking the worst. It's the opposite of optimism, which means assuming the best. Most people feel that too much pessimism is paralyzing — who will ever try anything if they are always sure they will fail?

Pessimism comes in two flavors. With one, you feel that something bad will happen. You feel pessimistic about the geometry final. How will you pass it? Pessimism is also the tendency to expect the worst in everything. A pessimist in love is a person sure that there must be something wrong with the person to love them back. A pessimist on an airplane is sure the plane is missing some essential part that won't be noticed until it plummets from the sky. Can pessimism be fun? Not really ever.

1. [N-UNCOUNT 不可数名词]悲观；悲观主义 Pessimism is the belief that bad things are going to happen. [oft N about/over n]

...universal pessimism about the economy...

对经济所持的普遍悲观态度

My first reaction was one of deep pessimism.

我的第一反应非常悲观。

来源：学无用的英语