“Roseate” — from the Latin “roseus,” meaning “rosy” — is an adjective to describe something quite literally colored pink, or it can take on the metaphorical definition of  “excessively optimistic.” The expression “seeing the world through rose-colored glasses” has been in use since the 1830s as a poetic descriptor for “living with optimism,” albeit tinged with naïveté. When “roseate” is used as a descriptor for birds, it’s because they have pink plumage. The roseate spoonbill is not naive; it just eats crustaceans that give it a rosy hue, similar to flamingos.