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View synonyms for wishful thinking

wishful thinking

noun

  1. interpretation of facts, actions, words, etc., as one would like them to be rather than as they really are; imagining as actual what is not.


wishful thinking

noun

  1. the erroneous belief that one's wishes are in accordance with reality
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • wishful thinker, noun
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Other Words From

  • wishful thinker noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of wishful thinking1

First recorded in 1925–30
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Idioms and Phrases

Interpreting matters as one would like them to be, as opposed to what they really are. For example, Matthew wanted to be a basketball player, but with his height that was wishful thinking . This term comes from Freudian psychology of the mid-1920s and soon began to be used more loosely.
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Example Sentences

For all their wishful thinking, climate science suggests there is no future in the region that does not include serious disruptions to its economy, growth trajectory and perhaps even quality of life.

Such initiatives sound a little vague, and calls for change always have a whiff of wishful thinking about them.

They took a sip more out of curiosity than wishful thinking.

Well, I’m here to say that’s wishful thinking for a pair of $130 earbuds.

Given the full year during which it could have taken place, that certainly raises questions about just how much they were going on, beyond wishful thinking and innuendo.

Our quest for better leaders—“Change we can believe in”— is wishful thinking.

Dear White People is a conversation about racism not buried under wishful thinking.

But the idea he is going to attract droves of non-traditional Republican supporters is nothing more than wishful thinking.

Sometimes the wishful thinking was done by well-known individuals—the Dalai Lama and Ralph Bunche.

At least 65 Peace Prizes have been awarded for wishful thinking.

This impression was generally discredited, people were surfeited with optimism; they felt our reports were wishful thinking.

This is contrasted to happenstance decision making based on impulsiveness and wishful thinking.

Subconsciously he knew that this, at the very best, was wishful thinking.

However, for the present, it was just so much wishful thinking as far as Dawson was concerned.

It's wishful thinking and we cannot permit such daydreaming in our precarious condition.

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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.

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wish fulfilmentwishing well