pessimist
Expects the worst
A pessimist expects unfavorable outcomes—the glass is half empty, the worst is likely to happen.
The word often implies a habitual disposition rather than a momentary mood: He's such a pessimist about everything.
Pessimist can be neutral description or mild criticism, suggesting someone who drains energy or undermines hope.
Some self-described pessimists prefer "realist."
Believer in predetermined outcomes
- doomsayerPredictor of catastrophe
- quitterOne who surrenders
- hopelessBeyond possibility of success
- resignedYielded to circumstances
despairing · surrendering · defeated · discouraged · disheartened · demoralized · capitulating · bleak
One who magnifies problems
- worrywartHabitual fretter, informal
- alarmistOne who overstates threats
- doomsayerPredictor of catastrophe
- fretfulAnxiously irritable
anxious · apprehensive · worst-case · nervous · fearful · panicky · handwringer · cassandra
Thinker prioritizing individual freedom
- nihilistOne denying inherent meaning
- fatalistBeliever in predetermined outcomes
- deterministOne denying free will
- stoicUncomplaining endurer of hardship
absurdist · weltschmerz · ennui · entropy · impermanence · futility · meaninglessness · realist
One who doubts claims
disbeliever · misanthrope · sardonic · cynical · world-weary · jaded · disenchanted · disillusioned
Dark and dispiriting
- melancholicInclined toward reflective sorrow
- moroseSullenly ill-humored
- glumQuietly dejected
- dourSternly gloomy
sullen · somber · downcast · despondent · doleful · woeful · lugubrious · killjoy
fatalist
Believer in predetermined outcomes
resigned · despairing · surrendering · defeated · discouraged · disheartened · demoralized · capitulating · bleak · downbeat
catastrophizer
One who magnifies problems
- worrywartHabitual fretter, informal
- alarmistOne who overstates threats
- doomsayerPredictor of catastrophe
fretful · anxious · apprehensive · worst-case · nervous · fearful · panicky · handwringer · cassandra · dread
existentialist
Thinker prioritizing individual freedom
- nihilistOne denying inherent meaning
- fatalistBeliever in predetermined outcomes
- deterministOne denying free will
stoic · absurdist · weltschmerz · ennui · entropy · impermanence · futility · meaninglessness · realist · clear-eyed
skeptic
One who doubts claims
scoffer · disbeliever · misanthrope · sardonic · cynical · world-weary · jaded · disenchanted · disillusioned · mocking
gloomy
Dark and dispiriting
- melancholicInclined toward reflective sorrow
- moroseSullenly ill-humored
- glumQuietly dejected
dour · sullen · somber · downcast · despondent · doleful · woeful · lugubrious · killjoy · wet-blanket
- personalitiesintrovert, optimist, extrovert, idealist, romantic
- personality typespersonality type, extrovert, MBTI, introversion, extroversion
- personality traitsextraversion, agreeableness, introvert, neuroticism, temperament
- temperamentscholeric, phlegmatic, melancholic, sanguine, introvert
- character archetypeshero, villain, mentor, sidekick, protagonist
- criticscritic, critics, criticizer, criticizers, faultfinder
pessimistoptimist
Habitually hopeful person
eternal optimist · Pollyanna · ray of sunshine · sentimentalist