Somebody who acknowledges the fact that humanity is crap but also believes in its capacity to do good.
--Man I know the world has a lot of shitty people but I still think we can do some good here. I think I'm cynically optimistic.
--If you're that person who wants to cut the next jerk who cuts you in line, but also has genuine faith in humanity, you're cynically optimistic.
--If you're that person who wants to cut the next jerk who cuts you in line, but also has genuine faith in humanity, you're cynically optimistic.
by waderaykabeta August 29, 2017
When you believe all of humanity is driven by self-interest, but that humanity also has an innate desire to feel good about themselves, and that's a possibility for a person to act kindly. such as actively recycling out of a sense of legacy/guilt.
I could just be cynically optimistic right now, but I think that guy only helped that lady across the rode so he could feel morally superior .
by realistically depressed January 23, 2018
A cynical optimist rejects the position that 'realism' is the only alternative to the extremes of pessimism and optimism. Instead, cynical optimism emphasizes that a reality can be sustained through a blending of the extremes. Indeed, cynical optimists would argue that the blending best describes the "reality" that "realists" have thus far failed to suitably articulate.
A: So, from a cynical optimists point of view - what IS the meaning of life?
B: We're all going to die. And many of us will die slowly and painfully. Then again, we're probably not going to die today. More importantly, MOST of our days, we're going to live; and only on one of them will we die. That's ... not such a bad deal. And, even if WERE a bad deal, it's the only deal in town. So, I'd make the most of the mundane while you still can.
A: How does that significantly differentiate you from existentialists?
B: Dude! Because I'm submitting to Urban Dictionary, not Cambridge University Press.
B: We're all going to die. And many of us will die slowly and painfully. Then again, we're probably not going to die today. More importantly, MOST of our days, we're going to live; and only on one of them will we die. That's ... not such a bad deal. And, even if WERE a bad deal, it's the only deal in town. So, I'd make the most of the mundane while you still can.
A: How does that significantly differentiate you from existentialists?
B: Dude! Because I'm submitting to Urban Dictionary, not Cambridge University Press.
by AKA GG March 28, 2022
Marriage is the biggest mistake I can't wait to make. It's the only thing I've ever been cynically optimistic about.
by Sanityfan October 10, 2015