sanguine
adjective

- optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation

Oxford Languages

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WORD ORIGIN

The word “sanguine” is used to describe a person who is optimistic, cheerful, and confident about the future. It can also refer to a reddish or ruddy colour.

The origin of the word comes from the Latin sanguineus, which means “of blood” or “bloody”. In ancient times, it was believed that a person’s temperament was determined by the balance of bodily fluids. A person who was sanguine was thought to have an excess of blood, which made them cheerful and confident. Over time, the word came to be associated with a positive outlook and optimism — nowadays, sanguine is used more figuratively to describe a person’s temperament or outlook on life.

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BOATS IN THE DESERT

Several early Australian explorers were so convinced that they would encounter mighty rivers or an inland sea that they took boats over land with them.

“Thomas Mitchell, a sanguine soldier who explored vast tracts of western New South Wales and northern Victoria in the 1830s, dragged two wooden skiffs* over three thousand miles of arid scrub without once getting them wet, but refused to the last to give up on them”, writes Bill Bryson in ‘In a Sunburned Country’. “’Although the boats and their carriage had been of late a great hindrance to us’, he wrote with a touch of understatement after his third expedition, ‘I was very unwilling to abandon such useful appendages* to an exploring party.’”

*skiff = Ruderboot  *appendage =     Anhängsel, Zubehör

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SYNONYMS

- optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation

affirmative, always expecting the best, as sure as eggs is eggs, assured, believing in oneself, bright, buoyant, can-do, cheerful, cheery, chipper, cocksure, confident, convinced, doubtless, enthusiastic, free from doubt, full of hope, happy, having no doubt (no questions about), hopeful, in good heart, in no doubt, inspirited, keeping the faith, looking on the bright side, not in doubt (in question), of good cheer, optimistic, positive, SANGUINE, secure in one’s belief, seen through rose-coloured spectacles, self-assured, self-confident, self-possessed, sure-fire, trustful, trusting, upbeat, without doubt, without question

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Monika is a real asset to our team — her SANGUINE disposition always allows her to bounce back quickly from setbacks.”

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