hopeful

American  

[hohp-fuhl] / ˈhoʊp fəl /

adjective

1. full of hope; expressing hope.

   His hopeful words stimulated optimism.

   Synonyms:

   confident, optimistic, sanguine, expectant

2. exciting hope; promising advantage or success.

   a hopeful prospect.

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noun

1. a person who shows promise or aspires to success.

   the Democratic presidential hopeful.

hopeful British  

/ ˈhəʊpfʊl /

adjective

1. having or expressing hope

2. giving or inspiring hope; promising

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noun

1. a person considered to be on the brink of success (esp in the phrase a young hopeful )

Other Word Forms

• hopefulness noun
• unhopeful adjective
• unhopefully adverb

Etymology

Origin of hopeful

First recorded in 1560–70; hope + -ful

Example Sentences

"If new faces come, I am hopeful there will be changes," Yadav says.

From BBC

A doctor in northern Iran said he was “cautiously hopeful” about the strikes.

From The Wall Street Journal

I exchanged hopeful glances with the women around me.

From Los Angeles Times

I told him that I try to remain hopeful.

From Salon

"However, nature usually has a way of re-balancing, so we are hopeful to get planting in the next month and see the crop grow even faster in the warmer mid or late spring weather."

From BBC

Related Words

• cheerful
• encouraging
• exciting
• favorable
• fortunate
• good
• gracious
• likely
• pleasant
• probable
• reasonable
• reassuring
• rosy