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Wannabe

//ˈwɒnəbi// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
Someone who wishes to be someone or do something, but lacks the qualifications or talent; an overeager amateur; an aspirant. attributive, derogatory, informal, often
"Hollywood's restaurants are full of wannabe actors waiting to be discovered."
2
an ambitious and aspiring young person wordnet
3
Someone who wishes to be part of, or to assimilate to, a majority group of which they are not a member. derogatory, informal
"Bigger, mongrelly and black, he was clearly a Doberman wannabe."

Etymology

Written form of a reduction of want to be, analysable as wanna + be. Wannabe can be considered a conversion, category change, or functional shift. While occasionally appearing in print, usually as a less reduced phrase, the popularity of the word took off in the mid-1980s following the Madonna wannabe fashion trend: “wannabe”, in Google Books Ngram Viewer.

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