Wishful

adj

adj ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Wished-for; desired, wanted. obsolete

    "The cry whereof entring the hollow cave / Eftsoones brought forth the villaine, as they ment, / With hope of her some wishfull boot to have."

  2. 2
    Expressing a wish or longing for something.

    "When she weighed anchor I went to the waterside and looked at her with a very wishful and aching heart, and followed her with my eyes and tears until she was totally out of sight."

  3. 3
    Aspiring, or seeking advancement.
Adjective
  1. 1
    desiring or striving for recognition or advancement wordnet
  2. 2
    having or expressing desire for something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aspirantaspiringaspiringaviddesirousdesirous

Example

More examples

"This business plan of yours seems almost too optimistic. All I can say is I hope it's more than just wishful thinking."

Etymology

From wish + -ful.

Related phrases

wishful hopingwishful recyclingwishful thinkerwishful thinkingwishful thought

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.