wistful
Americanadjective
-
characterized by melancholy or longing.
-
pensive, especially in a melancholy way.
- Synonyms:
- forlorn, meditative, musing, contemplative, reflective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wistful
First recorded in 1605–15; obsolete wist “quiet, silent, attentive” (variant of whist 2 ) + -ful
Explanation
Only one letter separates the two words, but "wishful" is having hope for something, and wistful is having sadness or melancholy about something. "Wist" isn't even a word that's used anymore, but you can still be wistful. People who appear wistful often show a longing for something or a look of serious reflection. One way to describe the adjective wistful is as the sad appearance of someone looking back and thinking "if only..." A thoughtful or pensive mood centered on something good in the past that is missed or something not so good in the present that could have been better "if only" something had gone differently — these things make for a wistful outlook.
Vocabulary lists containing wistful
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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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.
Mark Zuckerberg was just three minutes into his keynote speech at the company's annual Meta Connect product event last month when his tone turned almost wistful.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Back then, they were “a fount of car games, sing-alongs, impassioned debates, and wistful dreaming-out-loud.”
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
The “stuff” being a body of work angled toward wistful ruminations on familial heritage, the search for brotherhood and “the question of what to do with all the sorrow.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
On the new release, 20 years later, Ms. Salvant’s version relates the song’s wistful focus on timing, regret and irony.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
There was nothing wistful in the way he said this.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
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.
