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.
I was excited to see their level, but I'm still hopeful we might see them together at the US Open - and maybe the 2028 Olympics in their hometown of Los Angeles.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Damon’s co-star Tom Holland is slightly more hopeful.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
He’s hopeful the graduate teaching program will offer a path to a new career.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
She describes how Dailey, ever hopeful of being exonerated, stayed fit with the help of an improvised dumbbell made by stuffing a pillowcase with his copious legal paperwork.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
“What a hopeful disposition you have!” said I, gratefully admiring his cheery ways.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
