Meaning & use
to be optimistic
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Meanings
phraselinking
To expect good things to happen or to believe that a situation will end well.
Grammar: Used after the verb be, which links the subject to the describing word: She is optimistic.
Patterns
- be optimistic about something
- be optimistic that + clause
- be cautiously optimistic
The doctors say she is optimistic about a full recovery.
I try to be optimistic even when things go wrong at work.
We are optimistic that the new plan will save the company money.
phraselinking
To hope for or expect a particular good result in a specific situation.
Grammar: Often followed by about plus a noun, or by that plus a clause: optimistic about the results; optimistic that we will win.
Patterns
- be optimistic about doing something
- be optimistic that someone will do something
The coach is optimistic about the team's chances on Saturday.
Are you optimistic that the talks will succeed?
Common combinations
- cautiously optimistic
- After the first test results, the engineers were cautiously optimistic.
- optimistic about the future
- Young people here are surprisingly optimistic about the future.
- remain optimistic
- Despite the delays, we remain optimistic.
- an optimistic view
- She takes an optimistic view of the whole situation.
- overly optimistic
- His sales figures were based on overly optimistic guesses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hopeful
- Hopeful sounds warmer and more emotional, and it often suggests simply wishing for the best rather than expecting it.
- positive
- Positive is broader and can describe a cheerful attitude in general, not only expectations about a result.
- upbeat
- Upbeat is informal and describes a lively, cheerful mood rather than a reasoned expectation.
Opposites
Word family
- optimism noun
- The feeling or belief that good things will happen.
- optimist noun
- A person who usually expects good things to happen.
- optimistically adverb
- In a way that shows you expect a good result.
- pessimistic adjective
- Expecting bad things to happen; the opposite of optimistic.
Commonly confused: to be optimistic or optional?
to be optimistic vs optional
Optional means you may choose whether to do something; optimistic means you expect good things. They sound similar but have nothing to do with each other.
Practice
The manager said she was optimistic ____ the new product's sales.
Choose one answer.
'Optimistic about something' is the standard pattern for the thing you have hopes for. 'Optimistic for' and 'optimistic with' are not used in this way, and 'optimistic to' would only appear before a verb, as in 'optimistic to hear the news'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “to be optimistic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.