as in cynical
having or showing a belief that the future is determined and cannot be changed
His fatalistic outlook resulted in a lack of motivation to pursue a career.
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Recent Examples of fatalistic
Known for his spare, unforgiving style and darkly comic fatalistic sensibility, along with his penchant for leather jackets, lots of smoking and a deadpan sense of humor, Tarr was a quintessential arthouse filmmaker.
—
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2026
There was this kind of fatalistic view that there was not that much that could be done.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 18 Dec. 2025
Navarro is an expert at navigating the surreal, fatalistic way the captain thinks of herself.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Dreaming was a new pastime in a country long considered fatalistic.
—Snigdha Poonam, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
That was like a very sort of fatalistic view.
—Outside Online, 1 Oct. 2025
Back on Capitol Hill, the mood is dour and fatalistic.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 29 Sep. 2025
Herzog resists making a hero out of Messner, who can seem subject to a darkly fatalistic drive.
—Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2025
This is another fatalistic image of the single track on which homosexual desire is condemned to run, love inevitably curdling into hatred.
—Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2026
There was this kind of fatalistic view that there was not that much that could be done.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 18 Dec. 2025
Navarro is an expert at navigating the surreal, fatalistic way the captain thinks of herself.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Dreaming was a new pastime in a country long considered fatalistic.
—Snigdha Poonam, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
That was like a very sort of fatalistic view.
—Outside Online, 1 Oct. 2025
Back on Capitol Hill, the mood is dour and fatalistic.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 29 Sep. 2025
Herzog resists making a hero out of Messner, who can seem subject to a darkly fatalistic drive.
—Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2025
This is another fatalistic image of the single track on which homosexual desire is condemned to run, love inevitably curdling into hatred.
—Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fatalistic
Adjective
-
In his experiences and chronicles of the great ideological battles of the twentieth century, Curzio Malaparte was a shape-shifter—pitiless, clinical, cynical, unsentimental, indifferent to morality and idealism.—
Leah Downey,
The New York Review of Books,
7 Feb. 2026
-
That didn’t happen, not least because of the cynical fecklessness of regional powers.—
Juan Pablo Spinetto,
Twin Cities,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
What is, perhaps, a surprise is seeing a long-term trend, particularly apparent on decadal timescales, that tends towards a brighter (more negative) visual magnitude.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
-
The prior year featured consistently modest gains and several months of negative growth for payrolls.—
Jeff Cox,
CNBC,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fatalistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fatalistic. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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