as in hopeless
emphasizing or expecting the worst
your defeatist attitude is depressing everyone else on the team!
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in realist
one who emphasizes bad aspects or conditions and expects the worst
we told her that if she was going to be such a defeatist, she should keep her thoughts to herself
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeatist
Adjective
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Those nurses never stopped fighting for Mattie, even as her situation seemed hopeless.—
Erin Clack,
People.com,
10 May 2025 -
While critical gaps in testing still remain, innovation has ignited a diagnostic boom that has transformed the AIDS fight from hopeless to winnable.—
Jennifer Lotito,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Her Daphne was a realist, a hedonist and, like Fahy, a great hang.—
Alexis Soloski,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
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Working with his skilled team of animators, Bienvenu evokes Iris’ world with the detail and bold touch of a realist.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2025
Adjective
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Is this a cynical attempt to rescue their party from a political free fall?—
John Opdycke,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 May 2025
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And so Lee’s reinterpretation strains to leave us on a high instead of a low, as befits the finale of an update so compellingly eager to flip the script on one of Kurosawa’s most cynical films.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
19 May 2025
Noun
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Abdellatif Kechiche’s 2013 graphic lesbian love story Blue Is the Warmest Color confounded cynics by winning over a jury headed by, of all people, Steven Spielberg.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
14 May 2025
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Ignore the cynics and their interest in intimidating ironic innovation!—
Chris Jones,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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While downgrades are nothing new, Moody’s cited six factors — an unusually large number, with all of them related in one way or the other to Trump policies — for its pessimistic forecast.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
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Consumers have the most pessimistic outlook since October 2011, according to the Conference Board, driven by fears surrounding tariffs, inflation and the possibility of a recession.—
Ryan Ermey,
CNBC,
15 May 2025
Noun
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In contrast, pessimists often miss opportunities by holding cash.—
Michael Khouw,
CNBC,
14 Apr. 2025
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The power basketball conferences have dominated, and because power means football, and football means money, specifically more NIL money to use as tokens for players to use the NCAA transfer portal, pessimists see the mid-majors such as San Diego State on life support.—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defeatist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeatist. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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