optimist

1 of 2

noun (1)

op·​ti·​mist ˈäp-tə-mist 

: a person who is inclined to be hopeful and to expect good outcomes : someone who is given to optimism

The optimists have faith that no matter how avaricious the age, literature will endure.

—Michael Norman

Optimist

2 of 2

noun (2)

Op·​ti·​mist ˈäp-tə-mist 

: a member of a major international service club

Examples of optimist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Part of that stemmed from who Swinney is — an eternal optimist. —Grace Raynor, The Athletic, 22 Dec. 2024

To optimists, this property of mirror molecules could prove useful in the fight against chronic disease. —Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Dec. 2024

Elwood is an optimist, a true believer that a change is gonna come and that the arc of history does indeed bend toward justice. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2024

On one side, optimists celebrate the rapid evolution of large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Llama as groundbreaking tools that promise unprecedented efficiency and effectiveness. —Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

optim(ism) + -ist entry 1, probably after French optimiste

Noun (2)

Optimist (Club)

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1759, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1911, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

optimist

noun

op·​ti·​mist

ˈäp-tə-məst

: an optimistic person