noun

• 1Hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.

  ‘the talks had been amicable and there were grounds for optimism’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I think in the '60s there was a certain amount of optimism about the future in technology.’
  • ‘Young officers like me could look forward to the future with confidence, hope and optimism.’
  • ‘Princess Anne officially reopened Westbury Dairies offering words of hope and optimism for the future of the plant.’
  • ‘These two factors, Mr Speaker have motivated us to approach the future with great optimism.’
  • ‘Publicly, Saudi oil executives express optimism about the future of their industry.’
  • ‘With this level of projected coverage, both the McDermotts and Tullow can look to the future with optimism.’
  • ‘For me, it's a powerful metaphor for optimism and the future.’
  • ‘I live in a world where I feel enormous optimism for the future.’
  • ‘During past scientific breakthroughs and innovations, human society was guided by a sense of optimism about the future.’
  • ‘Sixty pupils from two schools have joined forces to create a CD about life as a Bradfordian and their optimism for the future.’
  • ‘By this standard at least, there are grounds for cautious optimism.’
  • ‘I have genuine optimism for the future of Scotland as a must-visit destination.’
  • ‘The report states that there is a lot of optimism about the success of these projects.’
  • ‘It does not inspire optimism for the future of economic development in Scotland.’
  • ‘Eight years on and the band are now looking to the future with optimism, as Calum explains.’
  • ‘But taking the long view, there is cause for considerable optimism about the future of relations.’
  • ‘I am filled with boundless enthusiasm, optimism, confidence, strength and love!’
  • ‘At first, like other returning veterans, Frankie faces the future with optimism.’
  • ‘There appears to be a lot of increasing optimism about the future price of oil.’
  • ‘Worn down by the lack of sleep and the sickness, he lost all trace of optimism about his future.’

  Synonyms

  hopefulness, hope, confidence, buoyancy, cheer, good cheer, cheerfulness, sanguineness, positiveness, positive attitude

  View synonyms

• 2Philosophy
  The doctrine, especially as set forth by Leibniz, that this world is the best of all possible worlds.

  ‘His early optimism was soon overshadowed by a radical doctrine of grace.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Candide, Voltaire's critique of optimism, is itself an ineliminably upbeat book.’

  1. 2.1The belief that good must ultimately prevail over evil in the universe.
     ‘Natural theology was above all a counsel of optimism, a belief in the essential goodness of the Creator.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘I have great faith in optimism as a philosophy, if only because it offers us the opportunity of self-fulfilling prophecy.’
     • ‘Subsequent wars and revolutions have made Kant's optimism unfashionable.’