Cinderella


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Cin·der·el·la

 (sĭn′də-rĕl′ə)
n.
One that unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect.

[After Cinderella, , the fairy-tale character who escapes from a life of drudgery and marries a prince, translation of French Cendrillon.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cinderella

(ˌsɪndəˈrɛlə)
n
1. a girl who achieves fame after being obscure
2.
a. a poor, neglected, or unsuccessful person or thing
b. (as modifier): a Cinderella service within the NHS.
3. (modifier) relating to dramatic success: a Cinderella story.
[C19: after Cinderella, the heroine of a fairy tale who is aided by a fairy godmother]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Cin•der•el•la

(ˌsɪn dəˈrɛl ə)

n., pl. -las.
1. a heroine of a fairy tale who is maltreated by a stepmother but achieves happiness and marries a prince through the intervention of a fairy godmother.
2. a person who achieves sudden success, esp. after obscurity or neglect.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Cinderella - a woman whose merits were not been recognized but who then achieves sudden success and recognitionCinderella - a woman whose merits were not been recognized but who then achieves sudden success and recognition
adult female, woman - an adult female person (as opposed to a man); "the woman kept house while the man hunted"
2.Cinderella - a fictional young girl who is saved from her stepmother and stepsisters by her fairy godmother and a handsome prince
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
Popelka
Askepot
Cindrulino
Tuhkimo
Pepeljuga
Hamupipőke
シンデレラ
Askepott
Cinderela
Popoluška
Pepelka
Pepeljuga
Askungen

Cinderella

[ˌsɪndəˈrelə] NCenicienta f
it's the Cinderella of the artses la hermana pobre de las artes
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Cinderella

[ˌsɪndəˈrɛlə] nCendrillon
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Cinderella

n (lit, fig)Aschenputtel nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Cinderella

[ˌsɪndəˈrɛlə] nCenerentola
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
"Why not," it said, "buy the petticoat, find out the name of its owner, and, instead of seeking a vague Golden Girl, make up your mind doggedly to find and marry her, or, failing that, carry the petticoat with you, as a sort of Cinderella's slipper, try it on any girl you happen to fancy, and marry her it exactly fits?"
The mother, however, loved the ugly and lazy one best, because she was her own daughter, and so the other, who was only her stepdaughter, was made to do all the work of the house, and was quite the Cinderella of the family.
From these decayed sons and daughters of Gaul, she had acquired such wonderful arts, that the woman and girl who formed the staff of domestics regarded her as quite a Sorceress, or Cinderella's Godmother: who would send out for a fowl, a rabbit, a vegetable or two from the garden, and change them into anything she pleased.
"Peter," said Wendy excitedly, "that was Cinderella, and he found her, and they lived happily ever after."
"Here 's richness!" said Polly to herself as she rolled away, feeling as Cinderella probably did when the pumpkin-coach bore her to the first ball, only Polly had two princes to think about, and poor Cinderella, on that occasion, had not even one.
"She sits down like," said Irene, trembling in second-sight, "and she tries on the glass slipper, and it fits her to a T, and then the prince, he cries in a ringing voice, 'This here is my true love, Cinderella, what now I makes my lawful wedded wife.'"
"Well, now, we can play I'm a good sprite out of the box, or, what is better, a fairy godmother come down the chimney, and you are Cinderella, and must say what you want," said Rose, trying to put the question delicately.
"The Skip of the Tip-Toe-Hop, a Romance of the Middle Ages, by the celebrated author of `Tittle-Tol-Tan,' to appear in monthly parts; a great rush; don't all come together." All this they read with saucer eyes, and erect and primitive curiosity, and with unwearied gizzard, whose corrugations even yet need no sharpening, just as some little four-year-old bencher his two-cent gilt-covered edition of Cinderella -- without any improvement, that I can see, in the pronunciation, or accent, or emphasis, or any more skill in extracting or inserting the moral.
He was only good enough to be a fairy prince; and oh, what magnanimity to stoop to such a humble Cinderella! Miss Pinkerton would have tried to check this blind devotion very likely, had she been Amelia's confidante; but not with much success, depend upon it.
Did you ever read Cinderella, or The Yellow Dwarf, or The Enchanted Frog, or The Fair One with Golden Locks?"
"You would be liable to be swept out of the room with the cobwebs and carpet-dust, and to find yourself under the grate, like Cinderella. Mayn't I sit down now?"
I shan't let anyone see you till you are done, and then we'll burst upon them like Cinderella and her godmother going to the ball," said Belle in her persuasive tone.