The Only Use of
sanguine
in
Jane Eyre
- I know that had I been a sanguine, brilliant, careless, exacting, handsome, romping child — though equally dependent and friendless — Mrs. Reed would have endured my presence more complacently; her children would have entertained for me more of the cordiality of fellow-feeling; the servants would have been less prone to make me the scapegoat of the nursery.†
p. 19.6
Definitions:
-
(1)
(sanguine) confidently optimistic and cheerful
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Other meanings of sanguine relate to its root meaning of blood. Thus sanguine or rare derivatives like sanguinary or sanguineous can refer to the color red or to bloodshed.