happy warrior

noun

1. a person who is undiscouraged by difficulties or opposition.
2. (initial capital letter) a nickname of Alfred E. Smith.

Word History and Origins

Origin of happy warrior¹

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

Yet Brock’s winning formula included a youthful optimism and projected a happy warrior affect that soothed fears the GOP’s Southern success in the 1960s fed on and fueled painful racial divisions in the South.

From Washington Post

They expect him to recalibrate, slightly, to be more happy warrior than culture warrior.

From The Daily Beast

Christie, an archetypal tough guy happy warrior, at first dismissed accusations that the traffic jam was politically motivated.

From The Daily Beast

By contrast, while Santorum does not lack for passion, he often comes across as less a happy warrior than a dismayed one.

From The Daily Beast

Now the Man from Vermont is uncomplainingly soldiering onward in the health-insurance-reform battle—a happy warrior for Obamacare.

From The Daily Beast

The Happy Warrior of Wordsworth gives us probably a very true idea of the mediæval conception of the perfect knight.

From Project Gutenberg

He died the death of the happy warrior, fighting as our Anglo-Saxon forefathers fought, in the midst of his kinsmen and friends.

From Project Gutenberg

The day had come when the Dictator was to dine with that 'happy warrior,' the Soldier of Fortune.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Molton was singing "The Happy Warrior," to celebrate the finish of the shearing.

From Project Gutenberg

The whole theory is most nobly summed up in the grand lines already noticed on the character of the Happy Warrior.

From Project Gutenberg