Panglossian
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of Panglossian
First recorded in 1825–35; after Pangloss, an optimistic character in Voltaire's Candide; compare Greek panglossía “garrulousness, wordiness” ( see pan-, glosso-, -y 3); see -ian
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Of course, there are limits to taking a Panglossian attitude and psyching ourselves up in the face of challenges.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
Elghanian’s letters reveal a lonely man still trying to oversee his businesses and family affairs as the old regime collapses, clinging to a Panglossian belief that things will be all right.
From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022
Of all the euphemisms the Times has used for "pathological lying," "Panglossian dismissiveness" maybe the the Times-iest.
From Salon • Jun. 22, 2020
The role of calming natural leader is not one that has come easily as he struggles to find the balance between public reassurance and Panglossian dismissiveness.
From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2020
He was quite disembarrassed of that Panglossian philosophy which had hitherto induced him to believe that the Earl of Fitz-pompey was the best of all possible uncles.
From The Young Duke by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
