as in pessimism
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Recent Examples of defeatism
Too often the effect has been to make the GOP put lipstick on defeatism.
—
Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 19 June 2025
Shot entirely in France, the movie renders its ideas of romantic melancholy and Agathe’s default romantic defeatism in ways that reassure the audience every second.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2025
Blind pessimism becomes defeatism, a denial that solutions are possible.
—Big Think, 5 Feb. 2025
The defeatism that has come to define the way that many young people today perceive the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is not really part of her vocabulary.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for defeatism
Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 19 June 2025
Shot entirely in France, the movie renders its ideas of romantic melancholy and Agathe’s default romantic defeatism in ways that reassure the audience every second.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2025
Blind pessimism becomes defeatism, a denial that solutions are possible.
—Big Think, 5 Feb. 2025
The defeatism that has come to define the way that many young people today perceive the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is not really part of her vocabulary.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for defeatism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeatism
Noun
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But pessimism about recent events in Venezuela isn’t shared by all opposition supporters, including former political prisoner Luis Mata.—
NBC News,
NBC news,
8 Jan. 2026
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While Republicans are more optimistic than their independent and Democratic counterparts across the issues polled, the negative shift from 2025 to 2026 was largely driven by growing pessimism among conservatives — a warning sign for the White House in a midterm election year.—
Morgan Chalfant,
semafor.com,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The resignation letter didn’t elaborate, and although Truver initially agreed to an interview, subsequent attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.—
Jennifer Palmer,
Oklahoma Watch,
9 Jan. 2026
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Bondi committed not to participate for one year after her resignation from Ballard Partners in matters involving Ballard and its clients as a party, so the criminal case against Mangione should be fair game for the DOJ head, the letter also said.—
Nicki Brown,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defeatism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeatism. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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