Optimist

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Optimist \Op"ti*mist\, n. [Cf. F. optimiste.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Metaph.) One who holds the opinion that all events are
        ordered for the best.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. One who looks on the bright side of things, or takes
        hopeful views; one who experiences optimism[2]; -- opposed
        to {pessimist}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  optimist
       n : a person disposed to take a favorable view of things [ant: {pessimist}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  20 Moby Thesaurus words for "optimist":
     Leibnizian optimist, Pollyanna, aspirant, aspirer, chiliast,
     dreamer, hopeful, hoper, idealist, irrepressible optimist,
     millenarian, millennialist, millennian, perfectibilist,
     perfectibilitarian, perfectionist, philosophical optimist,
     positivist, ray of sunshine, utopian
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  OPTIMIST, n.  A proponent of the doctrine that black is white.
      A pessimist applied to God for relief.
      "Ah, you wish me to restore your hope and cheerfulness," said God.
      "No," replied the petitioner, "I wish you to create something that
  would justify them."
      "The world is all created," said God, "but you have overlooked
  something -- the mortality of the optimist."