wistful

adjective

wist·ful ˈwist-fəl

Synonyms of wistful next

: full of yearning or desire tinged with melancholy

also : inspiring such yearning

a wistful memoir

: musingly sad : pensive

a wistful glance

wistfully

ˈwist-fə-lē

adverb

wistfulness noun

Did you know?

Wistful Has a Wishful History

We see you there, dear reader, gazing silently up at the moon, heart aching to know the history of wistful, as if it could be divined on the lunar surface. And we’d like to ease your melancholy by telling you that the knowledge you seek—nay, pine for—is closer at hand. But the etymology of wistful, while intriguing, is not entirely clear. It’s thought that the word is a combination of wistly, a now-obsolete word meaning “intently” and, perhaps, the similar-sounding wishful. Wistly, in turn, may have come from whistly, an old term meaning “silently” or “quietly.” What’s more certain is that our modern wistful is a great word to describe someone full of pensive yearning, or something inspiring such yearning.

Examples of wistful in a Sentence

She was wistful for a moment, then asked, “Do you remember the old playground?”. He had a wistful look on his face.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

To be sure, this type of nostalgia and wistful reflection speaks to a real-life community that often doesn’t get exposure on TV, which is part of the reason this series gets such stellar (confoundingly so, to some critics) ratings. —

Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 11 Nov. 2024 The Home for Retired Bears, benignly administered by the musical nuns, resembles an island gentlemen’s club in early Bond movies: think cane furniture, the wistful whiff of Empire and a faintly sinister air. —

Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024 There’s something searching and wistful about this movie; it couldn’t have been made by a young person. —

Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024 Neither damning nor satiric, W. is oddly wistful, almost regretful — rare sentiments in a Stone film. —

Will Leitch, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for wistful