wishful

English

Etymology

From wish +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪʃfəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃfəl

Adjective

wishful (comparative more wishful, superlative most wishful)

1. (obsolete) Wished-for; desired, wanted.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     The cry whereof entring the hollow cave / Eftsoones brought forth the villaine, as they ment, / With hope of her some wishfull boot to have.

2. Expressing a wish or longing for something.
   • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 5, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:

     When she weighed anchor I went to the waterside and looked at her with a very wishful and aching heart, and followed her with my eyes and tears until she was totally out of sight.

3. Aspiring, or seeking advancement.

Derived terms

• wishfully
• wishfulness
• wishful recycling
• wishful thinker
• wishful thinking
• wishful thought

 

Translations

expressing a wish or longing for something

• Bulgarian: желаещ (bg) (želaešt)
• Serbo-Croatian: željan (sh), čežnjiv (sh)

aspiring, or seeking advancement

• Bulgarian: кандидатстващ (bg) (kandidatstvašt)
• Polish: życzeniowy (pl)
• Scottish Gaelic: togarrach
• Serbo-Croatian: željan (sh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئارەزووکار (arezûkar)