wistful

wistful
wistful 1610s, "closely attentive," from obsolete wist "intent" (c.1500), of uncertain origin. Perhaps formed on the model of wishful. The meaning of "yearningly eager" is first recorded 1714. Related: Wistfully; wistfulness.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Wistful — Wist ful, a. [For wishful; perhaps influenced by wistly, which is probably corrupted from OE. wisly certainly (from Icel. viss certain, akin to E. wit). See {Wish}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Longing; wishful; desirous. [1913 Webster] Lifting up one of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wistful — index pensive Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • wistful — [adj] daydreaming, longing contemplative, desirous, disconsolate, dreaming, dreamy, forlorn, hopeless, meditative, melancholy, mournful, musing, nostalgic, pensive, plaintive, reflective, sad, thoughtful, wishful, yearning; concept 403 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

  • wistful — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ having or showing a feeling of vague or regretful longing. DERIVATIVES wistfully adverb wistfulness noun. ORIGIN apparently from obsolete wistly intently , influenced by WISHFUL(Cf. ↑wishfully) …   English terms dictionary

  • wistful — [wist′fəl] adj. [altered (modeled on WISHFUL) < earlier wistly, attentive] showing or expressing vague yearnings; longing pensively wistfully adv. wistfulness n …   English World dictionary

  • wistful — [[t]wɪ̱stfʊl[/t]] ADJ GRADED Someone who is wistful is rather sad because they want something and know that they cannot have it. I can t help feeling slightly wistful about the perks I m giving up... He has a wistful look. Derived words:… …   English dictionary

  • wistful — adjective Etymology: blend of wishful and obsolete English wistly intently Date: 1714 1. full of yearning or desire tinged with melancholy; also inspiring such yearning < a wistful memoir > 2. musingly sad ; pensive < a wistful glance > •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • wistful — wist|ful [ wıstfəl ] adjective slightly sad because you want to have or do something: a wistful expression/smile a. used when you are thinking about something that made you happy in the past: Miranda felt a wistful longing for the old days. ╾… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • wistful — UK [ˈwɪstf(ə)l] / US [ˈwɪstfəl] adjective a) slightly sad because you want to have or to do something a wistful expression/smile b) used when you are thinking about something that made you happy in the past Miranda felt a wistful longing for the… …   English dictionary

  • wistful — adjective a) full of yearning or longing His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days. b) sad and thoughtful …   Wiktionary

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