Pollyanna
Relentlessly cheerful person
A Pollyanna is someone who maintains excessive or naive optimism, especially when circumstances don't warrant it.
The term comes from a 1913 novel whose young heroine played "the glad game"—finding something to be happy about in every situation.
The word usually carries a note of criticism: Don't be such a Pollyanna—we're in real trouble here. (Lowercase pollyanna is sometimes used.)
Habitually hopeful person
- idealistPursuer of noble principles
- dreamerOne given to fantasies
- naiveInnocently unsuspecting
- cheerfulPleasantly bright in mood
hopeful · rosy · sunny · positive · upbeat · glad · buoyant · sanguine
Refusal to accept reality
- blindnessAbsence of vision
- foolishLacking good sense
- dismissiveShowing contemptuous disregard
- rose-coloredPinkish or overly hopeful
whitewash · sugarcoat · gloss over · ignore · minimize · rationalize
Child whose parents died
- classicOf lasting excellence
- children's literatureBooks aimed at youth
- 1913Specific past year
- DisneyMajor entertainment conglomerate
adaptation · sequel · protagonist · heroine · bestseller
optimist
Habitually hopeful person
cheerful · hopeful · rosy · sunny · positive · upbeat · glad · buoyant · sanguine · starry-eyed
denial
Refusal to accept reality
- blindnessAbsence of vision
- foolishLacking good sense
- dismissiveShowing contemptuous disregard
rose-colored · whitewash · sugarcoat · gloss over · ignore · minimize · rationalize
orphan
Child whose parents died
- classicOf lasting excellence
- children's literatureBooks aimed at youth
- 1913Specific past year
Disney · adaptation · sequel · protagonist · heroine · bestseller
- 1900s LiteratureThe Time Machine, War of the Worlds, Heart of Darkness, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray
- girls' fictionNancy Drew, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess
- naivetygreenhorn, newbie, tenderfoot, raw recruit, born yesterday
- Coined Wordschortle, galumph, nerd, robot, quark
- EponymsDarwinian, Alzheimer's disease, Freudian slip, cardigan, Parkinson's disease
- optimismoptimism, hope, positive thinking, positivity, hopeful
Pollyannacynic
Doubter of good intentions
pessimist · Eeyore · killjoy · wet blanket · doomsayer
PollyannaEeyore
Scrooge · Grinch · Oscar the Grouch · Chicken Little · Cassandra