Word of the Day: Sanguine

san-guine / ˈsaŋ-gwən

 

adjective

 

1. cheerfully optimistic or hopeful

That glorious vision of doing good is so often the sanguine mirage of so many good souls.

from ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens, 1812-1870

 

2. bloodred

While far overhead hang gloriously

Large luscious berries of sanguine dye,

For the best grows highest, always highest,

Upon the mulberry-tree.

from ‘The Mulberry-Tree’ by Dinah Maria Murlock Craik, 1826-1887

 

3. red in hue; ruddy

[Mrs. Pryor] was all unnerved; her naturally sanguine complexion was pale; her usually placid, though timid, blue eye was wandering, unsettled, alarmed.

from ‘Shirley’ by Charlotte Brontë, 1816-1855

 

4. relating to blood

All the inflammations that come under the name of phlegmonous have the same seat; they are all in the sanguine arteries of the part inflamed.

from ‘A New Medical Dictionary’ by George Motherby, c.1731-1793

 

noun

 

1. a strong red color

Yet on Wall Street, the scene is the other kind of sanguine: The stock has slipped into the red for the year.

Hannah Levitt, ?-, ‘As Wells Fargo seeks a new CEO, it loses $24 billion in market value.’