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roseate: msg#00020

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: roseate

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The Word of the Day for June 21 is:

roseate \ROH-zee-ut\ adjective
1 : resembling a rose especially in color
*2 : overly optimistic : viewed favorably

Example sentence:
Alicia was making some fairly roseate predictions about the
outcome of the contest, but Ben was trying not to get his hopes
up.

Did you know?
"Everything's coming up roses." "He views the world through
rose-tinted glasses." "She has a rosy outlook on life." In
English, we tend to associate roses and rose color with
optimism, and "roseate" is no exception. "Roseate" comes from
the Latin adjective "roseus," and ultimately from the
noun "rosa," meaning "rose." Figurative use of "roseate" began
in the 19th century, and the literal sense of the term has been
in the language since the 16th century. Literal uses
of "roseate" are often found in descriptions of sunrises and
sunsets. "Through yon peaks of cloud-like snow / The roseate
sunlight quivers," wrote Shelley in _Prometheus Unbound_. And in
an early short story, Edith Wharton wrote, "The sunset was
perfect and a roseate light, transfiguring the distant spire,
lingered late in the west."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.




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