wistful
[wist-fuh l]
- characterized by melancholy; longing; yearning.
- pensive, especially in a melancholy way.
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Origin of wistful
Synonyms
See more synonyms for wistful on Thesaurus.com2. reflective, musing, meditative, forlorn.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for wistful
Contemporary Examples
But for much of the country, these fleeting moments of wistful longing happen in the everyday-low-prices aisles of Walmart.
It makes me feel sort of hopeful, and I have a wistful sort of longing for it.
Joy Reid, MSNBC Anchor, on the Racism of the Tea Party, Family Dramas, and Why She Loves BoxingLloyd Grove
March 27, 2014
Naomi Watts plays Diana as a sweet-natured, wistful, half-wit.
This puts into wistful perspective the developing consensus that we should do something about it.
Andy likes watching the toddlers, but he is wistful about his old life, and somewhat defensive about his new one.
Historical Examples
He turned round and saw before him the wistful face of Fanny!
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
As we entered the ballroom, her eyes were wistful, searching, yet not expecting to find.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
He put on his spectacles and looked at her with wistful kindness.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
There was a strange note of wistful pleading in the nurse's voice.
Gloria and Treeless StreetAnnie Hamilton Donnell
I did observe that you did cast a wistful eye upon my bookshelf.
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
wistful
- sadly pensive, esp about something yearned for
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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
Word Origin and History for wistful
adj.
1610s, "closely attentive," from obsolete wist "intent" (c.1500), of uncertain origin. Perhaps formed on the model of wishful. The meaning of "yearningly eager" is first recorded 1714. Related: Wistfully; wistfulness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper