optimism

5 definitions found

optimism - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Optimism \Op"ti*mism\, n. [L. optimus the best; akin to optio
     choice: cf. F. optimisme. See Option.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Metaph.) The opinion or doctrine that everything in
        nature, being the work of God, is ordered for the best, or
        that the ordering of things in the universe is such as to
        produce the highest good.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A habitual tendency or a present disposition to take the
        most hopeful view of future events, and to expect a
        favorable outcome even when unfavorable outcomes are
        possible; -- opposed to pessimism.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

optimism - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  optimism
      n 1: the optimistic feeling that all is going to turn out well
           [ant: pessimism]
      2: a general disposition to expect the best in all things [ant:
         pessimism]

optimism - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  optimism
  
     What a programmer is full of after fixing the last bug and
     just before actually discovering the *next* last bug.  Fred
     Brooks's book "The Mythical Man-Month" contains the
     following paragraph that describes this extremely well.
  
     All programmers are optimists.  Perhaps this modern sorcery
     especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and
     fairy god-mothers.  Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations
     drive away all but those who habitually focus on the end goal.
     Perhaps it is merely that computers are young, programmers are
     younger, and the young are always optimists.  But however the
     selection process works, the result is indisputable: "This
     time it will surely run," or "I just found the last bug.".
  
     See also Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

optimism - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  optimism
   n.
  
     What a programmer is full of after fixing the last bug and before
     discovering the next last bug. Fred Brooks's book The Mythical
     Man-Month (See Brooks's Law) contains the following paragraph that
     describes this extremely well:
  
    All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this modern sorcery
    especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and fairy
    godmothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations drive away
    all but those who habitually focus on the end goal. Perhaps it is
    merely that computers are young, programmers are younger, and the
    young are always optimists. But however the selection process
    works, the result is indisputable: "This time it will surely run,"
    or "I just found the last bug.".
  
     See also Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology.
  

optimism - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "optimism":
     Leibnizian optimism, Pollyannaism, blitheness, blithesomeness,
     bright outlook, bright side, brightness, buoyancy, cheer,
     cheerful expectation, cheerfulness, cheeriness, cheery vein,
     eupeptic mien, geniality, gladness, gladsomeness, good cheer,
     happiness, hope, hopefulness, idealism, millennialism,
     optimisticalness, perfectibilism, perfectionism,
     philosophical optimism, pleasantness, positivism, radiance,
     rosy expectation, rosy outlook, sanguine expectation,
     sanguine humor, sanguineness, sanguinity, silver lining, sunniness,
     utopianism, winsomeness