Pollyannaism

English Alternative forms en Pollyannism Etymology From en Pollyanna -ism. Noun - Persistent irrational optimism. en Panglossianism en cynicalness cynicism pessimism realisticness realism en naivete naïveté unrealisticness en Pollyanna creep en w:Germaine Greer At the U.N., Women’s Year ‘of Disgrace’ w:The New York Times 1975-05-09 http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/09/specials/greer-un.html some good guys at the Secretariat decided that 1975 should be International Women’s Year. ¶ It is typical of the special brand of United Nations Pollyannaism that they did so regardless of the fact that Secretariat hiring policies are grossly discriminatory. https://web.archive.org/web/20250903214612/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/09/specials/greer-un.html en 1988 w:Edmund White w:The Beautiful Room is Empty New York Vintage International 1994 1 I realize one self-evaluation is as true as another and that my mother’s relentless Pollyannism was a less melancholy and more efficient way of muddling through than my gloom or my sister’s saturnine honesty. See also en Mark Tapleyism en Micawberism en eponyms