low expectations
Bracing for disappointment
Low expectations are modest or pessimistic assumptions about what someone or something will achieve or deliver.
The phrase often carries a self-protective quality—expecting little means avoiding disappointment: I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
It can also describe diminished standards applied to others, sometimes unfairly: Teachers had low expectations for students from that neighborhood.
- disappointmentSadness from unmet expectations
- settlingReaching resolution or rest
- mediocrityQuality of being average
- underestimateJudge too low
- cynicalDoubting human goodness
pessimism · doubt · skeptical · resigned · why bother · going through motions · lukewarm · underwhelming · nothing special · bare minimum · bare bones · defeatist · jaded · lowball · complacency · apathy · shrug · meh
- ableismableism, stigma, prejudice, discrimination, exclusion
- defeatismdefeatism, giving up, hopelessness, resignation, capitulation
- educational failuresdropout, illiteracy, innumeracy, failing grades, dropout rates
low expectationshigh expectations
high hopes · optimism · positive outlook · confidence · hopefulness
lower, lowest, lowness, lows, expect, expects, expected, expecting, expectation