adjective
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having or expressing hope
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giving or inspiring hope; promising
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived 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.
“We were hopeful with Raj,” said Jaime Lee, a town planning-commission member.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Eclipsing that idea, though, is how much more alive and hopeful this documentary makes us feel.
From Salon • Jun. 7, 2026
For people dealing with hair loss, the research offers a hopeful but cautious message.
From Science Daily • Jun. 7, 2026
Pfizer is hopeful that the experimental drug can lessen the side effects like nausea and diarrhea that occur with GLP-1s.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
My list of eighth-grade goals is pinned up on the bulletin board next to the bookshelves, so neat and hopeful.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
