What does defeatist mean?
A defeatist is a person who expects failure or believes that success is impossible, and who therefore stops trying or resists effort altogether. The word is most often used critically: calling someone a defeatist implies that their pessimism is unwarranted and self-fulfilling, sapping morale before an outcome has actually been decided. It appears frequently in contexts of competition, politics, business, and personal ambition — for example, dismissing a team's chances before a match has started, or insisting that reform can never work. The related adjective form, as in "a defeatist attitude", is especially common in everyday speech. The term carries strong connotations of giving up too easily, and it stands in direct opposition to words like optimism and perseverance. Its origins lie in the French défaite, meaning "defeat", and the word gained particular prominence during the First World War, when it was applied to those who advocated capitulation. Today it remains a sharp, useful label for premature despair.
nounA person who expects failure or believes that success is impossible, especially one who gives up or refuses to try because of this attitude.
- A person who expects or accepts failure rather than striving for success; someone with a defeatist attitude.
"Calling the negotiations pointless before they had even begun, he was accused of being a defeatist."
"Don't be such a defeatist — the project still has a real chance of succeeding."
"Her defeatist streak showed whenever exams approached, as she insisted there was no point in revising."
Regular plural formation; used when referring to multiple people holding such attitudes.
"The committee was full of defeatists who doubted the plan would ever work."
"Defeatist" was born in the trenches of World War I — it originally described those who urged surrender, making it a word literally forged by war.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of defeatist
The word "defeatist" derives from "defeat", which entered English from Old French desfaite, the feminine past participle of desfaire, meaning "to undo" or "to destroy", ultimately from Latin disfacere. It took shape in French as défaitiste before being borrowed into English during the First World War era, when it described those who favored abandoning the war effort. Related words sharing the same Latin root include "defeat" itself, "feat", and "affection" through the broader facere family.
How defeatist is actually used
Often used pejoratively to criticize someone's negative outlook; frequently paired with "attitude", "mentality", or "thinking". The adjective use (e.g. "a defeatist attitude") is very common in English, though the noun is the head form. Register is neutral, but the label itself is usually critical.
Easily confused with defeatist
A fatalist believes all events are predetermined and inevitable, while a defeatist specifically expects failure and gives up as a result.