wistful
English · Thesaurus
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wistful
- /ˈwɪstfəl/
Where it comes from
Presumably from *whistful, from whist (“silent”) + -ful, based on older wistly. It is implausible that it derives from wishful, the required sound change being wishful → *wisful → wistful, which could not occur in Modern English, particularly not with wishful continuing in use. However, the sense of “longing” appears to be influenced by wishful, making wistful an ambiguous poetic word.
adjective more wistful · most wistful
- Full of longing or yearning. His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.
-
Sad and thoughtful.
Similar: despondent, unhappy, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless, chopfallen, crestfallen
Translations
Every language
adj full of longing
| Español | nostálgico |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 애석(哀惜)해하는 aeseokhaehaneun |
| Português | saudoso, nostálgico, melancólico |
| Français | mélancolique, nostalgique |
| Deutsch | wehmütig, sehnsuchtsvoll, nostalgisch |
| Italiano | malinconico, nostalgico |
| Русский | тоску́ющий toskújuščij, томя́щийся tomjáščijsja, тоскли́вый tosklívyj |
| עברית | כמה kaméha |
adj sad and thoughtful
| Español | melancólico |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | schwermütig, melancholisch |
| Русский | заду́мчивый zadúmčivyj, гру́стный grústnyj, печа́льный pečálʹnyj |
| עברית | עגום agúm, מלנכולי melankóli |
Talk about this word "wistful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wistful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wistful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wistful "wistful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wistful.Cite this
@misc{wistful_2026,
title = {wistful},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wistful},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
