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Definition of Pollyanna noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Pollyanna

noun
 
/ˌpɒliˈænə/
 
/ˌpɑːliˈænə/
[usually singular]
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  1. a person who is always cheerful and expects only good things to happen
    CultureFrom the name of a character created by the US writer of children's stories, Eleanor Hodgman Porter. The character appears in the novels Pollyanna (1913) and Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Pollyanna was later a silent film (1920) with Mary Pickford and a Walt Disney film (1960) with Hayley Mills.
    Word Originearly 20th cent.: the name of the optimistic heroine created by Eleanor Hodgman Porter (1868–1920), American author of children's stories.
See Pollyanna in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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