adjective
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having or expressing hope
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giving or inspiring hope; promising
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hopeful
Explanation
If you're hopeful about something, you're optimistic. You think it's going to turn out OK. Your team has been doing well in practice, so you're hopeful that you'll win the finals. Hopeful comes from the word hope, meaning "optimism about a future event," and the suffix -ful, meaning "full." So if you're hopeful, you're full of hope: you think something good is going to happen. You might be hopeful that you'll be offered a job after your great interview. Used as a noun, hopeful can describe a promising person who wants to succeed at a particular goal. The charismatic young politician is a hopeful for the next election.
Vocabulary lists containing hopeful
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Emotions on Display
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many residents, like Villegas, squat close to destroyed homes, hopeful to be nearby when, and if, the remains of relatives are found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Here’s what else it has: genuine humor, smart writing and an ending that bravely goes for hopeful rather than happy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
While Gafill is hopeful that the fire won’t get close to his restaurant, which has been in his family for decades, he’s grappling with a loss of thousands of dollars for each day he’s closed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Bayless said she is hopeful the younger generation can make a change, but "given where we live … it would be a very difficult change."
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The beans provided a more hopeful solution to the problem of food.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
