Synonyms for pessimistic

modified

1. Discouraging

   bleak, dismal, worrisome, downbeat*; see dismal 1.

2. Inclined to a discouraging view

   hopeless, gloomy, cynical, misanthropic, negative, negativistic, defeatist, melancholy, depressed, sullen, morose, morbid, despondent, downhearted, despairing, distrustful, sullen, sneering; see also sad 1.

   Antonyms confident*, optimistic, sanguine.

3. Believing in philosophic pessimism

   fatalistic, deterministic, mechanistic, rationalistic, realistic.

pessimistic implies an attitude, often habitual, of seeing the dark side of things or expecting the worst to happen pessimistic about the prospects for peace; cynical implies a contemptuous disbelief in human goodness and sincerity cynical about recovering a lost watch; misanthropic suggests a deep-seated hatred or distrust of people in general a misanthropic hermit