as in positively
in a positive or optimistic manner
After months of dwindling sales, the manager declared optimistically that "there is no place to go but up from here".
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Recent Examples of optimistically
Our political leaders optimistically crow about the state’s future.
—
Wayne Winegarden, Oc Register, 4 Jan. 2026
Be optimistically realistic, as much as possible.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2026
The style is the kind still optimistically described as futuristic, though the reopening of a new New Museum in 2025 is a reminder that this future is close to twenty years old, a throwback to a time when smart design and calm authority were still widely believed to be capable of saving the world.
—Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Some might optimistically imagine that Google is only tracking their internet searches via Google.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 10 Dec. 2025
This approach, known as a judgment-bias test, reveals how optimistically or cautiously an animal interprets uncertainty.
—New Atlas, 7 Dec. 2025
Some might optimistically imagine that Google is only tracking their internet searches via Google.
—Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 4 Dec. 2025
More optimistically, Brochet’s 2030 sum-of-the-parts valuation and price-to-cash-flow ratio could translate into even more outperformance ahead.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2025
But now Wenger is in a federal detention facility, optimistically looking at receiving a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 1 Dec. 2025
Wayne Winegarden, Oc Register, 4 Jan. 2026
Be optimistically realistic, as much as possible.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2026
The style is the kind still optimistically described as futuristic, though the reopening of a new New Museum in 2025 is a reminder that this future is close to twenty years old, a throwback to a time when smart design and calm authority were still widely believed to be capable of saving the world.
—Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Some might optimistically imagine that Google is only tracking their internet searches via Google.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 10 Dec. 2025
This approach, known as a judgment-bias test, reveals how optimistically or cautiously an animal interprets uncertainty.
—New Atlas, 7 Dec. 2025
Some might optimistically imagine that Google is only tracking their internet searches via Google.
—Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 4 Dec. 2025
More optimistically, Brochet’s 2030 sum-of-the-parts valuation and price-to-cash-flow ratio could translate into even more outperformance ahead.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2025
But now Wenger is in a federal detention facility, optimistically looking at receiving a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 1 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for optimistically
Adverb
-
On December 18, 2025, the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, with assistance from the North Carolina SBI Crime Lab, positively identified the remains as Bethany Brown.—
Mark Price
January 7,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Jan. 2026
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After starting positively under Dyche, Forest have lost their past four games, leaving them four points above West Ham in 17th.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
The classically louche yet confidently glitzy Golden Globes energy had been missing for much of the night until Roberts, a true movie star who couldn’t care less, came onstage to present the award for Best Musical or Comedy.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Maybe this is as close as critics and artists are ever likely to ever get — sitting at different tables in the same oversized pan-Asian restaurant in front of a giant Quan Yin statue that Adrien Brody so confidently misidentified as Shiva last year.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
9 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
July will be a particularly lucky time for me, filled with abundance—and hopefully opportunities for love to blossom.—
Rebecca Fearn,
SELF,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Quick told People, however, that her decision to go public with her daughter's condition was aimed at spreading awareness and hopefully finding a cure.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
With this introduction of a hapless protagonist not entirely managing to live her best life, Brett Haley‘s film cheerfully speaks both the literary and cinematic language of romantic comedy — and won’t seek to subvert or elevate it in the two hours that follow.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Unable to roll the map out, its creators cheerfully realize that the country itself can serve as its own map.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
4 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Optimistically.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/optimistically. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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