Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

wistfulness

American  
[wist-fuhl-nis] / ˈwɪst fəl nɪs /

noun

  1. a mental state or emotion characterized by melancholy, longing, or pensiveness, or an instance of this.

    The film’s visuals occasionally aspire to the dark contours of a graphic novel, and, at other times, evoke the wistfulness of a watercolor painting.

    It's an extreme novel that conveys its dark message with heart and many moments of wistfulness.

Other Word Forms

  • unwistfulness noun

Etymology

Origin of wistfulness

wistful ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

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.