Why this word is great
PESSIMIST — [Noun] A person who habitually expects the worst outcome or looks on the dark side of things. From the French pessimiste, from the Latin pessimus ("worst") combined with the English suffix -ist ("one who practices or believes"). Unlike an optimist, who scans the horizon for a favorable wind, or a cynic, who expects self-interest and duplicity, the pessimist operates on a broader, almost meteorological principle: that the weather of events will, by statistical law, turn against you. It is the scent of mildew on wallpaper long before the leak appears, the practiced warmth of a hand poised to catch what is already falling, and the quiet certainty of rain on the picnic. Theirs is the practical philosophy of preparing for a collapse that may never come, so that survival, should it arrive, feels less like a miracle and more like a managed outcome.