Oversanguine

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /əʊvəˈsaŋɡwɪn/

Definitions

1. Exhibiting an unrealistically positive or cheerful outlook that transcends normal optimism
2. Marked by an exaggerated sense of hopefulness that can be deemed naively optimistic
3. Showing an overly hopeful or excessively confident attitude beyond reasonable expectation

Etymology: "Sanguine" comes from Latin "sanguineus," meaning "of blood," from "sanguis" (blood). In medieval physiology, it was one of the four humours, the bodily fluids thought to govern temperament: blood was associated with a warm, cheerful, hopeful disposition, while the other humours produced melancholy, anger, or calm. A sanguine person was therefore one whose blood made them optimistic, and the word gradually lost its physical sense and took on the figurative meaning of hopeful or confident. "Oversanguine" simply adds the prefix "over-," meaning "excessively" or "too much," to that sense. It describes someone whose hopefulness has run past what the circumstances justify, so that a cheerful temperament becomes an unrealistic one.

Synonyms: overly optimistic, excessively hopeful

Antonyms: pessimistic, cynical