Cinderellian

comparative more Cinderellian · superlative most Cinderellian · alternative Cinderellan

1. Of, resembling, or characteristic of Cinderella (the character).
   1. Gracefully small.

      Their figures are universally models for brunette Venuses, and their feet arch like rainbows, and are Cinderellian in size.

      1888 June 2, “Senoritas of Brazil. [Chicago Mail.]”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLVI, number 154, page 13, column 3

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      He had heard for some time the sound of packing and preparing a carriage, but the worst did not strike his mind, for throwing open the window in blind haste, he beheld, O Heavens! the lovely Hebe, just in the trying moment when she was placing her cinderellian foot on the steps of the carriage, the corpulent landlord with his white woollen cap under his arm, assisting her with his profane hands.

      1835 March 21, “The Prince’s Glance”, in D[avid] L[ester] Richardson, editor, The Calcutta Literary Gazette or Journal of Belles Lettres, Science, and the Arts, volume XI, old series / III, new series, number 64, Calcutta, section “A Companion”, page 181, column 1

      The skirts of gowns are made decidedly short in front with a short train behind; this is by no means an admirable style, but will be in high favor with those whose “golden lillies” are of Cinderellian proportions, and whose shoemaker is beloved of St. Crispin.

      1858 April 5, “Local, Literary and Miscellaneous”, in Buffalo Morning Express and Daily Democracy, volume XIII, number 3,783, section “The Spring Fashions”, page [3], column 1

      Regarding one of the Cinderellian slippers worn by Miss Von Hillern, who commences her second walk at Greenwood Hall, to-morrow evening, the Lowell Times says: “On the 5th, one of Miss Bertha Von Hillern’s walking shoes was lost from a bundle, while en route from Massachusetts to this city.[…]”

      1878 March 21, “Agony Over A Lost Shoe”, in Fort Scott Weekly Monitor, volume 14, number 50, Fort Scott, Kan., page 1, column 6

      Have a care, Mr. Kead, or your carcass may be food for the little birds, and we could ill afford to lose your dulcet tones or the patter of your Cinderellian feet.

      1883 December 14, “Local”, in The Round Table, volume XXX, number 7, Beloit, Wis., page 69, column 2

      What if the fertilizer is sometimes on the sidewalk, gravel walk, or front porch, and the first dark night finds it distributed by the Cinderellian slipper or patent leathers of some party bound pedestrian?

      1889 June 15, E. L. P., “An Adjacent Cow Town”, in The Chicago Tribune, volume XLIX, published 17 June 1889, page 4, column 6

   2. broadlyHaving gracefully small feet.

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      In a well-proportioned physical make-up the stature is about 6 to 6⅓ times the foot length, but in adults the feet range in size from a fashionable No. 1 to the hob-nailed, double sole and tap, No. 12 of the miner; in beauty from those of a Cinderellian belle to the hideous club hoofs of the poor unfortunates.

      1889 March 31, “Facts on Feet. How Different People Wear Their Shoes. Character Exhibited In Pedal Motion. The Proud Man Wears Back of Boot Heel. Romance and Song Tell of Human Feet. Clumsiest Walkers, Hollanders; Nimblest, Swiss.”, in The Boston Sunday Globe, volume XXXV, number 90, Boston, Mass., page 18, column 3

   3. Performing gruelling and tedious chores.

      […] [F]or my purpose in the discussion of poetry is not to furnish a house, but rather, as a Cinderellian drudge, to rid its theory of cobwebs and some of its blinding dust.

      1919, Henry G. Hartman, “Poetry”, in Aesthetics: A Critical Theory of Art, Columbus, Ohio: R. G. Adams & Co., section III, page 194

   4. broadlyGruelling and tedious.

      Each evening, when he returned from work, we’d sail away on a magic carpet to some exotic place. No matter that the hours between were filled with Cinderellian tasks. His love swept away the mundane.

      2008, Ray Paul, Shards: A Collection of Short Stories, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 75

2. Of, resembling, or characteristic of Cinderella (the fairytale).

   The entrance and departure on and from the social scene by most of the debutantes has been quite in the nature of a Cinderellian performance.

   1908 January 5, “In Social Circles. A Week of Many Gay Events—Entertainments Past and to Come—The Latest Engagements and Wedding Announcements—Tales of Travelers—Our Guests—Clubs and Social Organizations.”, in The Buffalo Sunday News, volume XXXV, number 6, Buffalo, N.Y., section “The Flower Season, Buds and Roses”, page 5, column 1

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   a cinderellian story. “‘Poor Martha Semple! she is indeed an object of pity,’ says Mrs. Townsend, a cousin of hers; ‘not that she is not well treated, not that she is not very amiable, but she is so remarkably plain; it is quite clear she can never marry. Her three sisters, all such belles, all courted and admired! Alas, poor girl! she has, I fear, but little chance of ever getting off.’

   1864, H[enry] R[obert] Addison, “An Unlooked for Result”, in “All at Sea” or Recollections of a Half-Pay Officer, London: Ward and Lock, […], page 301

   All the perennial witchery of Mother Goose, enhanced by the madcap gaiety of a troop of brownies and fairies, wrought Cinderellian enchantment, for the forlorn little Earth Maiden, with her rag doll clasped in her arms; and the pathetic little crutch standing on guard across the chair back.

   1909 May 2, “Bethany Children Give an Operetta”, in The Topeka Daily Capital, volume XXXIII, number 73, Topeka, Kan., page 23, column 2

   The girls look like Southern belles or Cinderellas. The prom’s theme is Cinderellian: “Until Midnight.” Little, clear slippers sit on the 30 cloth- and candle-covered tables on the tarp-covered gymnasium floor.

   1988 May 16, Melissa Merlie, “Dancing the night away”, in Chillicothe Gazette, volume 189, number 39, Chillicothe, Ohio, page 1B, column 2

   Well, that’s just what I was doing last Friday night, when the Cinderellian dream that was the Edge changed back into the pumpkin that we know too well.

   1989 May 19–25, Jack Skelley, “Blunting the Edge: You asked for a Lite . . .”, in LA Weekly, page 57, column 1

   The state’s current approach is Cinderellian—it requires noncustodial parents to provide new ball gowns for their firstborn, while supplying hand-me-downs to their later children.

   2002, Casenote™ Legal Briefs: Family Law, New York, N.Y.; Gaithersburg, Md.: Aspen Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 105

   1. Constituting maltreatment, especially as motivated by favoritism, nepotism, or cronyism.

      ‘CINDERELLIAN’ TREATMENT OF FARMERS

      1965 November 25, Cornish Guardian, volume LXV, number 3,385, Bodmin, page 9

   2. Ending at or avoiding midnight.

      Communicators are almost Cinderellian in their avoidance of midnight, and use either 2359 or 0001.

      1966 July, All Hands, page 61, column 3

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      The girls look like Southern belles or Cinderellas. The prom’s theme is Cinderellian: “Until Midnight.” Little, clear slippers sit on the 30 cloth- and candle-covered tables on the tarp-covered gymnasium floor.

      1988 May 16, Melissa Merlie, “Dancing the night away”, in Chillicothe Gazette, volume 189, number 39, Chillicothe, Ohio, page 1B, column 2