Pollyanna 1 of 2

Pollyanna

2 of 2

noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of Pollyanna
Noun
Your options aren’t only ‘cynical’ or ‘naïve’ The opposite of a cynic is a Pollyanna. Stav Ziv, CNBC, 24 June 2025 The breweries invite everyone to a celebration including the first opportunity to taste the new beer at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, at Pollyanna Brewing & Distilling at 106 S. Riverside Ave. Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2025 The documentary significantly adds to the origin story, tracing Reubens’ early days and infatuation with TV kids’ shows and Disney movies — Pollyanna was a favorite — and fleshing out the family’s move to Florida. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 2025 But isn’t the cynical explanation also the Pollyanna one? Maya Singer, Vogue, 8 Jan. 2025 Pope and Sarah go into catacombs beneath an old church in search of the treasure, but are forced to hide among the rats when Lightner (Rigo Sanchez) and his boss Dalia (Pollyanna McIntosh) show up and grab a mysterious scroll that is most likely a map. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Oct. 2024 Lightner and his mysterious boss, Dalia (Pollyanna McIntosh), get to the map inside a crypt below an old church before the Pogues do. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 Burke was previously married to actress Pollyanna Rose, per the Los Angeles Times. Samantha Stutsman, People.com, 14 Mar. 2025 Where to watch World Beyond: AMC+ 05 of 07 The Ones Who Live (2024–present) The newest direct sequel to the parent show, The Ones Who Live brings back Rick and Michonne, not to mention Pollyanna McIntosh’s CRM agent Jadis (née Anne), previously seen whisking Grimes away. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Pollyanna
Adjective
  • Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon and author of Unbreakable: A Woman's Guide to Aging with Power, had optimistic thoughts.
    Kristin Auble, Vogue, 10 July 2025
  • There’s an optimistic view: that AI could free us from drudgery and elevate us toward creativity, insight, and connection.
    Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • What the optimists did not foresee was that power could eventually shift back.
    SARAH BUSH, Foreign Affairs, 3 July 2025
  • Projected over 162 games, that’s a 94-win clip — a total that would surprise even the most wild-eyed optimists about the potential of the Giants in the first year of Buster Posey taking over as the president of baseball operations.
    Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 23 May 2025
Adjective
  • This hopeful and cozy novel is a tribute to the human-animal bond.
    Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 4 July 2025
  • Monica remains hopeful the final outcome will strike down Trump’s order.
    Suzanne Gamboa, NBC news, 3 July 2025
Noun
  • He’s got the twinkly eye and the sly, gregarious spiritual ease of a Micawber or a Cheeryble.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2024
  • The smallest of the Micawber brood glides away in his baby carriage, because the bailiff is dragging the hallway carpet out from under the front door.
    Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 16 Sep. 2020
Noun
  • Superman has always been an idealist, and this film embraces that part of his character.
    Scott Phillips, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
  • Culkin will star as Karl, a nervous young idealist who joins the staff of a high-security psychiatric Institute with good intentions, when he is assigned to care for one of its most dangerous inmates.
    Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 30 June 2025
Noun
  • Every wreck, every ruin is the relic of a shriveled dream, lasting long after the body of its dreamer has been received back into the earth with love or remorse or indifference.
    Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 10 July 2025
  • The American project is a patchwork of dreamers and doers, saints and sinners, stitched together by the thread of promise that stretches across generations.
    F. Willis Johnson, Twin Cities, 10 July 2025
Adjective
  • But this year, even among Republicans, views on immigration have grown significantly rosier – 64% of Republicans now believe immigration is a good thing, a 25-point jump from June of 2024.
    Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 13 July 2025
  • While Massachusetts had a rosy year in 2024 statistically, it was still affected by overall crime trends nationally, including a rise in shoplifting.
    Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 6 July 2025
Noun
  • For an unrivaled romantic (or solitary) escape, Mandapa’s 23 one-bedroom pool villas exude comfort and ambience galore.
    Alexandra Kirkman, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025
  • With so many Queen Anne and Regency buildings, this whole area screams period drama: channel your inner romantic with a visit to a historic home like Keats House (where poet John Keats lived) or Fenton House, with its picturesque walled garden.
    Emma John, AFAR Media, 24 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Pollyanna.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Pollyanna. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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