Pangloss

/ ˈpænɡlɒs /

noun

C19: after Dr Pangloss , a character in Voltaire's Candide (1759)

This,” said he, “is a book that was once the delight of the great Pangloss, the best philosopher in Germany.

No other representative of Pangloss has quite equalled Jefferson in the element of authoritative and convincing sincerity.

His embodiment of Dr. Pangloss has left in the memory of his time an image of eccentric character not less lovable than ludicrous.

His Parson Adams might have been a trifle more happily delineated; we see its error in the after-type, Pangloss.

The spirit of Pangloss came upon me again as I thought of all I had seen that day,—there was nothing like it in my day.

Browse