wistful
17
6.5
- adjective
- /ˈwɪstfəl/
:
nostálgico
- His wistful glance at the sunset reflected his longing for the past.
Through them, standing very still, wondering, wistful, waiting.
- Through them, standing very still, wondering, wistful, waiting.
- And it's something, it's something I'm wistful for, wistful for a belief that I never had, in a way.
Examples
-
When she finally spoke, her words came out small and wistful: "Scottie?
Fiction book (1995) -
Here and there, a second-floor window glowed cozily, and Delia sent it a wistful glance as they passed.
Fiction book (1995) -
You know, I think that holding that note for so long and slightly dropping it towards the end has a very kind of wistful quality.
-
And it's something, it's something I'm wistful for, wistful for a belief that I never had, in a way.
-
And I just used to always feel a bit sort of wistful or melancholy or whatever.
-
Other people might buy your wistful retired-from-life act, but not me.
-
Joy sits alone at a table, perhaps wistful or melancholy, and looks out the window.
Fiction book (1998) -
In all my life, I had never seen a person so intelligent, so wistful, so deserving to belong.
Fiction book (1996) -
Raquel Aurich, one of the last surviving members of the family, recalls those days with wistful nostalgia.
Academic text (2007) -
I use watercolor pencils a lot and I love them, but I think I mostly keep my oil and soft pastels here out of some sort of wistful nostalgia.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Feeling unhappy or upset because of something
37
5.9
Feeling or showing deep sadness
18
3.9
Feeling deep sadness because of a loss
14
7.0
Being quiet and deep in thought, often a little sad
9
2.9
Feeling sorry for something you did or said
5
7.8
Feeling sorry about something you did and showing it
5
7.2
Feeling deep, quiet sadness
Antonyms
How Longing
Surface Forms
Morphology
wistful = wist (opaque) = wist + ful
The suffix '-ful' is productive, but the root 'wist' is archaic/rare and not known to most learners, so the meaning ('full of longing') cannot be reliably derived.
Etymology
Wistful can be remembered like wishful — it sounds like wish and gives the image of a quiet, sad 'wanting' for something you do not have or once had. So, wistful means feeling a gentle regret or longing.