<philosophy, ethics> the view according to which any belief in the possibility of knowledge and happiness is, to say the least, naive (see also fatalism). Pessimism has a long history in Western philosophy, beginning in a mild form with stoicism in Greece and Rome and continuing through to existentialism in the twentieth century (consider the rejection of eudaimonism in both of these philosophies). The arch-pessimist of all intellectual history, and the only major thinker whose philosophy is "officially" said to be one of pessimism, is Schopenhauer (1788-1860), whose ideas held sway over the young Nietzsche and who had a strong influence on the existentialists (and who is reputed to have been influenced by Indian philosophy). Schopenhauer believed that reality, human nature, existence as such are all positively evil. In contrast to the totalistic pessimism of Schopenhauer, other thinkers are often pessimistic only about this world, and can be quite optimistic about the possibility of happiness in an afterlife - for example, Christianity is, or can be seen as, this kind of pessimism. The popular meaning of pessimism is related to the philosophical one, though not as fundamental.
Based on [The Ism Book]
Try this search on OneLook / Google