A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile.

The opinion or doctrine that everything in nature is ordered for or tends to the worst, or that the world is wholly evil; -- opposed to optimism.

A disposition to take the least hopeful view of things.

the feeling that things will turn out badly

a general disposition to look on the dark side and to expect the worst in all things

The philosophic theory which maintains that evil predominates over good, because the world at large is essentially bad.

Pessimism has a significant negative impact on career satisfaction, and the ability to change careers. See optimism.

A tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable or to take the gloomiest view.

Pessimism, from the Latin pessimus (worst), denotes a belief that the experienced world is the worst possible. It describes a general belief that things are bad, and tend to become worse; or that looks to the eventual triumph of evil over good; it contrasts with optimism, the contrary belief in the goodness and betterment of things generally. A common conundrum illustrates optimism versus pessimism with the question - does one regard a given glass of water as: "Is the glass half empty or half full?"