Pangloss

/ (ˈpænɡlɒs) /

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noun

a person who views a situation with unwarranted optimism

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Derived forms of Pangloss

Panglossian, adjective

Word Origin for Pangloss

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

Words nearby Pangloss

Pangaea, pangender, pangenesis, Pan-Germanism, Pang-fou, Pangloss, Panglossian, pangola grass, pangolin, Pango Pango, pangram

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use Pangloss in a sentence

This,” said he, “is a book that was once the delight of the great Pangloss, the best philosopher in Germany.
French Classics|William Cleaver Wilkinson
No other representative of Pangloss has quite equalled Jefferson in the element of authoritative and convincing sincerity.
Shadows of the Stage|William Winter
His embodiment of Dr. Pangloss has left in the memory of his time an image of eccentric character not less lovable than ludicrous.
Shadows of the Stage|William Winter
His Parson Adams might have been a trifle more happily delineated; we see its error in the after-type, Pangloss.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 64 No. 396 October 1848|Various

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.
Mystic London:|Charles Maurice Davies