Word-Built World: Panglossian

Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Pangloss in an LA Opera production of Candide
Photo: Ken Howard / LA Opera

PRONUNCIATION: (pan-GLOS-ee-uhn) 

MEANING: adjective: Blindly or unreasonably optimistic.
noun: One who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances.

ETYMOLOGY: After Dr. Pangloss, a philosopher and tutor in Voltaire’s 1759 satire Candide. Pangloss believes that, in spite of what happens — shipwreck, earthquake, hanging, flogging, and more — “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” The name is coined from Greek panglossia (talkativeness). Earliest documented use: 1831. The word pangloss is used in the same manner.

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