wistful
characterized by melancholy or longing.
pensive, especially in a melancholy way.
Origin of wistful
1Other words for wistful
Other words from wistful
- wist·ful·ly, adverb
- wist·ful·ness, noun
- un·wist·ful, adjective
Words Nearby wistful
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wistful in a sentence
While the logic Old provides makes sense, I can imagine a better movie that ends 20 minutes earlier and gives fewer answers, leaving us with more of the unnerving, wistful sadness that always comes along with stories about aging and mortality.
M. Night Shyamalan returns with Old, a floppy but haunting thriller about aging | Alissa Wilkinson | July 23, 2021 | VoxThat makes him wistful because renderings of proteins hooked him on science.
A sweet father-son bond inspires tasty new molecule models | Carmen Drahl | May 28, 2021 | Science NewsIn wistful moments, when I find myself daydreaming about the faraway places that have seldom felt so distant, I often linger on a border region of central Africa.
In East Africa, mountain gorillas and a new paradigm for wildlife travel | Henry Wismayer | April 23, 2021 | Washington PostHer wistful duet with Lee Brice, “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” hit the top of the country charts last summer.
Country star Carly Pearce released a powerful revenge album — and it’s not what you would expect | Emily Yahr | April 16, 2021 | Washington PostWhen she sings “it’s the first kiss, it’s flawless, it’s really something” on Fearless, she now sounds wistful as opposed to viscerally reliving a moment from a year or two ago.
The Significance of Taylor Swift's Fearless in 2008—and How Taylor's Version Stacks Up | TIME Staff | April 9, 2021 | Time
But for much of the country, these fleeting moments of wistful longing happen in the everyday-low-prices aisles of Walmart.
Heartache by the Numbers and OkCupid’s Founder Has Got Yours | Will Doig | October 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt 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 Boxing | Lloyd Grove | March 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNaomi Watts plays Diana as a sweet-natured, wistful, half-wit.
Princess Diana Was the Girlfriend From Hell. Why Is This Movie So Boring? | Tina Brown | November 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThis puts into wistful perspective the developing consensus that we should do something about it.
Climate Change is Here, Ready or Not. So What Now? | Eugene Linden | March 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAndy likes watching the toddlers, but he is wistful about his old life, and somewhat defensive about his new one.
Hanna Rosin’s The End of Men Turned Me Into a Caricature | Andy Hinds | September 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTYes, Georgie loved the man, and looked up at him with wistful, trusting eyes.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsAnd during the days when no gray car appeared she faced the situation, took stock, as it were, and grew heavy-eyed and wistful.
The Amazing Interlude | Mary Roberts RinehartShe saw him as he had looked the night he had said he loved her, rather wistful and very, very tender.
The Amazing Interlude | Mary Roberts Rinehart"Yes; I suppose so," and a wistful look came into his eyes, while his face suggested pain.
The Everlasting Arms | Joseph Hocking"Aunt Mary says I do do that—all the time," rejoined Cordelia, with a wistful smile.
The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch | Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman) Porter
British Dictionary definitions for wistful
/ (ˈwɪstfʊl) /
sadly pensive, esp about something yearned for
Derived forms of wistful
- wistfully, adverb
- wistfulness, noun
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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