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Pangloss

British

/ ˈpænɡlɒs /

noun

a person who views a situation with unwarranted optimism

"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

Other Word Forms

Panglossian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Pangloss

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

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.

He ends up on a farm, done with the blind optimism of his mentor Pangloss.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

Pangloss was the tutor of which title character in a novel by Voltaire?

From Slate • Aug. 28, 2023

I don’t want to sound like the perpetually optimistic Dr. Pangloss.

From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2023

Candide's philosopher companion Pangloss offers an analysis of their odyssey, and Candide responds, "All that is very well, but we must cultivate our gardens."

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2020

Spinoza is no incurable optimist, no Leibnizian Pangloss who believes this is, for man, the best of all possible worlds.

From The Philosophy of Spinoza by Ratner, Joseph

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023