Cinderella
noun/ˌsɪndəˈɹɛlə/
Etymology From cinder + Italian -ella, as in little cinder girl. Compare French Cendrillon.
1
Figuratively A mistreated and impoverished girl.
2
Something rising unexpectedly from obscurity to success, as a Cinderella team.
3
Something neglected and denied resources, as a Cinderella service.
- Cinderella State
- The Cinderella of the present trio is the Freshwater, which is laid up in the winter months, when one or other of her ugly sisters is sufficient to cope with the service.1956 February, R. C. Riley, “The Lymington Railway and Isle of Wight Ferry”, in Railway Magazine, page 82:
2 more examples
- A very early example of this can be seen in the case of the Midland Main Line (MML). At the start of 1982, this was the Cinderella of the InterCity portfolio but building more High Speed Trains (HSTs) to replace 90mph trainsets was out of the question. During 1982-83, Bleasdale shuffled his HST pack by taking sets from the Eastern and Western Regions and allocated these to the MML.2020 January 2, David Clough, “How InterCity came back from the brink”, in RAIL, page 64:
- The West of England Line has long been a Cinderella railway. Decades of patch-and-mend underinvestment have resulted in consistently poor performance.2026 February 18, Paul Clifton, “West of England Line problems laid bare”, in RAIL, number 1055, page 7:
4
Colloquial, Informal A procedure or surgery to reshape the feet.
- For Dr. Sadrieh (who was wearing made-to-order Gucci brogues), foot surgery is a fusion of medicine and fairy tale. At his practice, you don’t have a bunionectomy; you have a Cinderella procedure.2014 April 22, Laren Stover, “Make Them Fit, Please!”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2014:
- By the mid-1930s prominent members of society, including the aristocracy, were paying hefty fees for this Cinderella surgery, correcting double chins, reshaping noses and smoothing wrinkles and creases, even having stomach tucks.2020, Robert Wainwright, Enid: The Scandalous High-society Life of the Formidable 'Lady Killmore', Allen & Unwin, page 125:
5
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Philately A stamp or stamp-like label issued for purposes other than postal administration, not issued by a central government, or not listed in most general catalogues.
6
Derogatory, Rare A woman employed to clean, especially to remove ash from stoves and fireplaces.