Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

Pollyanna

[pol-ee-an-uh]
noun
  1. an excessively or blindly optimistic person.
Show More
adjective
  1. (often lowercase) Also Pol·ly·an·na·ish. unreasonably or illogically optimistic: some pollyanna notions about world peace.
Show More

Origin of Pollyanna

from the name of the child heroine created by Eleanor Porter (1868–1920), American writer
Related formsPol·ly·an·na·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

dreamer, idealist, hoper

Examples from the Web for pollyanna

Historical Examples

  • "Pollyanna" gives a better appreciation of people and the world.

    The Ghost Breaker

    Paul Dickey

  • He looked like Pollyanna, after eight or ten shots at the middleweight title.

    Occasion for Disaster

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • All this Pollyanna frou-frou is all right as frosting—but you've left out the cake!

    Telempathy

    Vance Simonds

  • Pollyanna died and, of course, she was glad and went to Heaven.

  • It is a fine thing to read a story like Pollyanna and get all excited over it.

British Dictionary definitions for pollyanna

Pollyanna

noun
  1. a person who is constantly or excessively optimistic
Show More
Derived FormsPollyannaish, adjective

Word Origin

C20: after the chief character in Pollyanna (1913), a novel by Eleanor Porter (1868–1920), US writer
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

Word Origin and History for pollyanna

Pollyanna

n.

"one who finds cause for gladness in the most difficult situations," 1921, a reference to Pollyanna Whittier, child heroine of U.S. novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter's "Pollyanna" (1913) and "Pollyanna Grows Up" (1915), who was noted for keeping her chin up during disasters.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
pollyanna in Culture

Pollyanna

(1913) A children's book by the American author Eleanor H. Porter. The title character is an orphan girl who, despite the difficulties of her life, is always extremely cheerful.

Show More

Note

A “Pollyanna” remains excessively sweet-tempered and optimistic even in adversity.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.