Dictionary

Pollyanna en · PROPN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɒliˈænə/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Polly + Anna.

Meanings

1. A female given name from Hebrew derived from Polly and Anna; rare in the real world.
   • Pollyanna Pocket was small, with long floppy ears and a tail that coiled upwards in a little ringlet. She was a bouncy, happy young dog, who frolicked all day 2014, Dot and the Waves, page 10:

Forms

Pollyanna en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɒliˈænə/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From the name of the protagonist in the 1913 novel Pollyanna, by Eleanor Porter.

Meanings

1. One who is persistently cheerful and optimistic, even when given cause not to be so.
   • ‘Next time we’re going to have fun, OK?’ I wanted this album to go towards the light. You indulge in the grief to a certain point, but then you have to be a little bit Pollyanna.” 2017 November 12, Miranda Sawyer, “Björk: ‘People miss the jokes. A lot of it is me taking the piss out of myself’”, in The Guardian:
   • You call her an optimist, but I call her an obnoxious Pollyanna.
   • I never wanna hear / From any cheerful Pollyannas / Who tell you Fate supplies a mate / It's all bananas 1930, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, “But Not for Me”, performed by Ginger Rogers:

Forms

Deriveds

Pollyanna creep · Pollyannaism · Pollyannaish · Pollyannish

Relateds

IBM Pollyanna Principle · quixotic · Panglossian

Translations (4)

eo optimistaĉo (a persistently cheerful and optimistic person) · tr Polyanna (a persistently cheerful and optimistic person) · el Πολυάννα (a persistently cheerful and optimistic person) · fr Pollyanna (a persistently cheerful and optimistic person)

wikipedia: Eleanor H. Porter · wikipedia: Pollyanna

Pollyanna en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɒliˈænə/
• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. (Mid-Atlantic, Pennsylvania, Southeastern, US, colloquial) A secret Santa gift exchange.

Forms