as in dreamers
a person who usually expects good things to happen
You have to be a bit of an optimist to start a business. Somehow he remained an optimist despite all that had happened to him.
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Recent Examples of optimists
And Cain and guitarist Neal Schon appear to have remained among the cockeyed optimists.
—
Chris Willman, Variety, 20 Feb. 2026
Those who give themselves an 8 or higher on the question about the future are categorized as optimists.
—Linley Sanders, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
If the skeptics hadn’t outnumbered the optimists by many miles, there’s no way Rockefeller could have pieced together what became Standard Oil.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
This squad has already accomplished the impossible, turning Bears fans into optimists, and not just about this season, but also those to come.
—Mirjam Swanson, Oc Register, 16 Jan. 2026
This reality is so sobering that even staunch climate optimists have had to adjust.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025
The path to Level 5 autonomous driving has turned out to be a much longer and bumpy one than the optimists once hoped.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Artificial intelligence—a productivity-maximizing tool to some and an untamable threat to others—has asked similar questions of the social contract in the 21st century, and the optimists appear to be winning the day.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
On Tuesday night, Bader led off for one of the best teams in baseball, an audacious idea at the time of the trade for even the biggest optimists in the room.
—Matt Gelb, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Chris Willman, Variety, 20 Feb. 2026
Those who give themselves an 8 or higher on the question about the future are categorized as optimists.
—Linley Sanders, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
If the skeptics hadn’t outnumbered the optimists by many miles, there’s no way Rockefeller could have pieced together what became Standard Oil.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
This squad has already accomplished the impossible, turning Bears fans into optimists, and not just about this season, but also those to come.
—Mirjam Swanson, Oc Register, 16 Jan. 2026
This reality is so sobering that even staunch climate optimists have had to adjust.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025
The path to Level 5 autonomous driving has turned out to be a much longer and bumpy one than the optimists once hoped.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Artificial intelligence—a productivity-maximizing tool to some and an untamable threat to others—has asked similar questions of the social contract in the 21st century, and the optimists appear to be winning the day.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
On Tuesday night, Bader led off for one of the best teams in baseball, an audacious idea at the time of the trade for even the biggest optimists in the room.
—Matt Gelb, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for optimists
Noun
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But the grandness of these dreams butts up against the precarity that their dreamers are facing.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Then, dreamers believed Lindsey Vonn, skating with a torn ACL, could navigate the women’s downhill to the medal podium.—
John Cherwa,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The dining room — lined with comfy booths and bedecked with Grandmillennial art — is a spectrum of stroller-pushers, youthful friend groups and silver-haired romantics.—
Jenn Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The classic, romantic tragedy is a must-see for romantics.—
Caroline Ritzie,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Optimists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/optimists. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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