Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of, or relating to defeatism
  • noun someone who advocates defeatism, or has such an attitude

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who is resigned to defeat without offering positive suggestions

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I for one do not mind my tax dollars going to a dog park and I commend those members of the City Council who refuse to engage in defeatist and negative thinking that always seems to hold this City back.

    Aurora Alderman Says Dog Park is Taxpayer Priority During Fiscal Pressure 2009

  • Did the Bush administration try to accommodate the Senators that had misgivings about the war, or were they called defeatist and traitors, and worst of all, wasn't a 30 year Marine Veteran branded a "coward" by a right wing female that never did anything for her country but bitch about the Democrats?

    What "Middle Ground" Harry? 2006

  • The prime minister's statement was called defeatist by Liberal finance critic John McCallum.

    unknown title 2009

  • The prime minister's statement was called defeatist by Liberal finance critic John McCallum.

    unknown title 2009

  • The prime minister's statement was called defeatist by Liberal finance critic John McCallum, who said it is becoming clearer by the day that the government should up the ante on stimulus, as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development recommended this week.

    CTV News RSS Feed 2009

  • For the second day in a row, a defeatist is the first to post on this thread.

    Latest Articles Free Republic Exclusive 2008

  • Participation in the debate is limited only to those who prescribe to the tenets of the discourse -- in this case, it is the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Jordanians, Egyptians, Saudis, and a smattering of other "defeatist" Arab leaders who are happy to serve our interests over theirs.

    Sharmine Narwani: The New Middle East Narrative -- Is Washington in or Out? Sharmine Narwani 2011

  • Participation in the debate is limited only to those who prescribe to the tenets of the discourse -- in this case, it is the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Jordanians, Egyptians, Saudis, and a smattering of other "defeatist" Arab leaders who are happy to serve our interests over theirs.

    Sharmine Narwani: The New Middle East Narrative -- Is Washington in or Out? Sharmine Narwani 2011

  • I am denounced as a "defeatist" here, and the subject of schoolyard taunts here.

    Archive 2009-03-01 2009

  • Participation in the debate is limited only to those who prescribe to the tenets of the discourse -- in this case, it is the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Jordanians, Egyptians, Saudis, and a smattering of other "defeatist" Arab leaders who are happy to serve our interests over theirs.

    Sharmine Narwani: The New Middle East Narrative -- Is Washington in or Out? Sharmine Narwani 2011

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