Etymology

• From the donkey in A.A. Milne's books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

Proper noun

1. An excessively negative or pessimistic person.
   • 1989, Terry Jones, Erik the Viking, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1990, ISBN 1557830541, pg. 39:

     SVEN nods toward SNORRI THE MISERABLE - an Eeyore of a Viking if ever there were one.

   • 2003, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Volume 3 of Christian origins and the question of God, Nicholas Thomas Wright, Fortress Press, ISBN 0800626796, pg. 108:

     Ecclesiastes, who sometimes seems to cast himself as the Eeyore of the Old Testament, would simply shrug his shoulders and tell you to make the best of what you had.

   • 2008, Steven Haines, The Product Manager's Desk Reference, McGraw-Hill Professional, ISBN 0071591346 pg. 99:

     You can't succeed as a Pollyanna or an Eeyore in the Product Management role — the glass is neither half full nor half empty, simply something that must eventually be washed.