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defeatism
[ dih-fee-tiz-uhm ]
noun
- the attitude, policy, or conduct of a person who admits, expects, or no longer resists defeat, as because of a conviction that further struggle or effort is futile; pessimistic resignation.
defeatism
/ dɪˈfiːtɪzəm /
noun
- a ready acceptance or expectation of defeat
Derived Forms
- deˈfeatist, nounadjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of defeatism1
Example Sentences
Defeatism is easy, but it’s an abdication of responsibility and it won’t get us anywhere.
It is a third way that avoids both complacency and defeatism, and we should wear the term with pride.
In 1970, Paul Ehrlich reinforced the defeatism, saying that in a few years “further efforts will be futile” and “you may as well look after yourself and your friends and enjoy what little time you have left.”
I worry there’s a sense of defeatism or giving up on the South, but this is simply not an option.
The post-dinner conversations of staffers and policy-makers was seamed with shame, and even defeatism.
Third, pulling out before any real efforts have been tried sends a message of hopelessness and defeatism more than anything else.
It was a country that had succumbed to paralysis and defeatism and nostalgia.
It seems at this point that dysfunction and defeatism are institutionally baked into the culture of the team.
For decades since, Britain has exercised its political resentments in the defeatism of the sporting field.
One of the troubles in dealing with any problem is routing defeatism and hopelessness.
But not because of any anti-life attitude, or pessimism, or defeatism.
Some in our midst have sought to instill a feeling of fear and defeatism in the minds of the American people about this problem.
To face the task of finding jobs faster than invention can take them away--is not defeatism.
The army was demoralized and saturated with the defeatism preached by the Porazhentsi.
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