sanguine
- Optimistic or positive, especially in a difficult situation.
- In historical medicine and heraldry, relating to or having the color of blood; blood-red.
In a sentence
- Despite the poor polling numbers, the campaign manager remained sanguine about their chances in the final week.
- It is hard to be sanguine about the economy when inflation continues to outpace wage growth.
Usage note. In modern usage, 'sanguine' almost always means 'optimistic'; readers may not recognize the blood-color meaning, so reserve that sense for historical or heraldic contexts where it is clear.
Where it comes from
English sanguine · entered English 14th c.
From Old French 'sanguin' and Latin 'sanguineus,' meaning 'of blood' or 'bloody,' derived from Latin 'sanguis' (blood). The word entered English in the 14th century in its medical and color senses. Its meaning of 'cheerfully optimistic' developed from the medieval theory of the four humors, in which a person dominated by blood ('sanguis') was thought to be ruddy, warm, and cheerful in temperament.