Wistful
adjective
Feeling a bit sad and longing for something.
Ever since she moved to the city, she would have a wistful look whenever she talked about her childhood village.
Often appears as...
- wistful look
- wistful smile
Usage tips
Slightly negative
adjective
Feeling a bit sad and longing for something.
Ever since she moved to the city, she would have a wistful look whenever she talked about her childhood village.
Often appears as...
- wistful look
- wistful smile
Usage tips
Slightly negative
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Subtle Sadness
Wistful expresses a gentle, softer form of sadness, not intense grief or sorrow.
She had a wistful expression recalling her old friends.
Pro Tip 2/3Reflective Longing
'Wistful' often accompanies feelings of missing the past or what could have been.
His wistful gaze out the window showed his yearning for the countryside.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotional Nuance
Wistful can imply a mix of emotions, like hopefulness tangled with melancholy.
There was a wistful note in her voice as she spoke of next year’s plans.
Compare with
longmelancholymournfulnostalgicpensiveregretfulthoughtfulyearn
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Video examples
Safari Live - Day 226 PIPE...
made a very welcome appearance near the Tanzanian border the North clan were their typical hunting scavenging fascinating selves while the all Olalla pride with wistfully to the south were the herds are concentrating and short green grass of the recent burns busy busy as I said
Video examples
Txtng is killing...
topic now that seems kind of mundane but think about how in real life if we're having a conversation we want to change the topic there ways of doing it gracefully you don't just zip right into it you'll pat your thighs and look wistfully off into the distance or
Video examples
Where are all the...
so this idea of cosmic loneliness I certainly find slightly wistful. But for me, the silence of the universe is shouting, "We're the creatures who got lucky." All barriers are behind us. We're the only species that's cleared them --
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 226 PIPE...
made a very welcome appearance near the Tanzanian border the North clan were their typical hunting scavenging fascinating selves while the all Olalla pride with wistfully to the south were the herds are concentrating and short green grass of the recent burns busy busy as I said
Video examples
Txtng is killing...
topic now that seems kind of mundane but think about how in real life if we're having a conversation we want to change the topic there ways of doing it gracefully you don't just zip right into it you'll pat your thighs and look wistfully off into the distance or
Video examples
Where are all the...
so this idea of cosmic loneliness I certainly find slightly wistful. But for me, the silence of the universe is shouting, "We're the creatures who got lucky." All barriers are behind us. We're the only species that's cleared them --
Example 1 of 3
Quote examples
Alex Turner
English Musician
Songwriters always reminded me of that kid at school who would go around with his guitar, like, 'Yeah, songwritin' man,' looking wistful. That wasn't me - those kinds of people put me off. In the early days, I'd write a bunch of lyrics and almost look at them as a sort of joke, to make the rest of the boys laugh.
Quote examples
Laura Amy Schlitz
American Author
Folklore has a moral center to it. Folklore is always, always, always on the side of the underdog, and children have a natural instinct towards justice. They feel indignation at needless cruelty and wistfulness about acts of mercy and kindness.
Quote examples
Tom Morello
American Musician
Baseball is a business. Sure, we fans are wistful dreamers who fantasize about glory on the diamond, but to the people who hold the purse strings, the Cubs win the economic World Series every year.
Quote examples
Mary Roberts Rinehart
American Novelist
Women are like dogs really. They love like dogs, a little insistently. And they like to fetch and carry and come back wistfully after hard words, and learn rather easily to carry a basket.
Quote examples
Michael Dirda
American Critic
Most lyric poetry is about love, whether yearned after, fulfilled, or wistfully regretted; what isn't tends to consist of laments and cris du coeur over this, that, and the other.
Quote examples
Elliott Abrams
American Lawyer
Can Israelis be wistful? It is not the characteristic we usually associate with them; more typically they are said to be tough, sweet, angry, thoughtful, demanding - not wistful.
Quote examples
Michael Leunig
Australian Cartoonist
When I was a boy, my own dad told me in a smiling and wistful way that it's a wise man that knows his own father.
Quote examples
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
English Musician
Dance music is great, but it's not a time to be reflective or particularly wistful.
Quote examples
Dennis Potter
British Dramatist
That vision of a common culture is now simply a remote wistfulness.
Quote examples
Deborah Tannen
American Sociologist
We all feel wistfulness or regret about roads not taken.
Quote examples
Alex Turner
English Musician
Songwriters always reminded me of that kid at school who would go around with his guitar, like, 'Yeah, songwritin' man,' looking wistful. That wasn't me - those kinds of people put me off. In the early days, I'd write a bunch of lyrics and almost look at them as a sort of joke, to make the rest of the boys laugh.
Quote examples
Laura Amy Schlitz
American Author
Folklore has a moral center to it. Folklore is always, always, always on the side of the underdog, and children have a natural instinct towards justice. They feel indignation at needless cruelty and wistfulness about acts of mercy and kindness.
Quote examples
Tom Morello
American Musician
Baseball is a business. Sure, we fans are wistful dreamers who fantasize about glory on the diamond, but to the people who hold the purse strings, the Cubs win the economic World Series every year.
Quote examples
Mary Roberts Rinehart
American Novelist
Women are like dogs really. They love like dogs, a little insistently. And they like to fetch and carry and come back wistfully after hard words, and learn rather easily to carry a basket.
Quote examples
Michael Dirda
American Critic
Most lyric poetry is about love, whether yearned after, fulfilled, or wistfully regretted; what isn't tends to consist of laments and cris du coeur over this, that, and the other.
Quote examples
Elliott Abrams
American Lawyer
Can Israelis be wistful? It is not the characteristic we usually associate with them; more typically they are said to be tough, sweet, angry, thoughtful, demanding - not wistful.
Quote examples
Michael Leunig
Australian Cartoonist
When I was a boy, my own dad told me in a smiling and wistful way that it's a wise man that knows his own father.
Quote examples
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
English Musician
Dance music is great, but it's not a time to be reflective or particularly wistful.
Quote examples
Dennis Potter
British Dramatist
That vision of a common culture is now simply a remote wistfulness.
Quote examples
Deborah Tannen
American Sociologist
We all feel wistfulness or regret about roads not taken.
Example 1 of 10
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