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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of defeatist
Jim Costa, Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2026
Job seekers can game this defeatist death-spiral by recalculating their measure of success.
—Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 22 Nov. 2025
China’s internet regulators have launched a campaign targeting online content that promotes negativity, pessimism, or defeatist attitudes and are urging netizens to report posts that violate these new standards.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
The prime minister’s far-right political allies, on the other hand, have accused the chief of staff of leading a weak and defeatist approach that is preventing victory over Hamas, the officials said.
—Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
Liam Tharme, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
The mood just feels a little defeatist right now.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
This defeatist thinking is misguided and assumes action will be futile.
—Jim Costa, Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2026
Job seekers can game this defeatist death-spiral by recalculating their measure of success.
—Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 22 Nov. 2025
China’s internet regulators have launched a campaign targeting online content that promotes negativity, pessimism, or defeatist attitudes and are urging netizens to report posts that violate these new standards.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
The prime minister’s far-right political allies, on the other hand, have accused the chief of staff of leading a weak and defeatist approach that is preventing victory over Hamas, the officials said.
—Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
Noun
Now there is a British tendency to be slightly defeatist.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
The mood just feels a little defeatist right now.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeatist
Adjective
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During that stretch, Davis has waffled between hopeless and hopeful on a weekly basis.—
Jack Flemming,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Apr. 2026
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After a while, a group of hopeless employees – sent to a training program – wreaks havoc on each one of them.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The character is described as playful but also a realist who’s well aware of society’s unspoken rules.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Curry is the ultimate realist and the ultimate dreamer.—
Sports Columnist,
San Francisco Chronicle,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Wally, too cynical to apprentice.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
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The Season 3 premiere is no different, plunging viewers back into Sam Levinson‘s provocative story about young people searching for meaning and connection in a chaotic, often cynical, world.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The cynics are figures like Sam Bankman-Fried, who built a fortune off of a crypto exchange called FTX, which crashed and burned in the fall of 2022, eventually sending Bankman-Fried to prison for fraud.—
Jack Crosbie,
Rolling Stone,
7 Apr. 2026
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The dollar amount was chosen arbitrarily based on what voters might accept, and some cynics saw it as a move by a pro-development commission to cozy up to environmentalists.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Horowitz, for his part, is not pessimistic about where this lands.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
15 Apr. 2026
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Yet Kang is pessimistic that users will actually adopt adequate security practices given rabid AI adoption.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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As late as August 2007, the Federal Reserve was skeptical of such bubble talk, while Grantham was dismissed as a pessimist, a dismissal that soon proved mistaken.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Being an optimist or a pessimist is not enough.—
Charlie Tyrell,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defeatist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeatist. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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