wannabe

noun

wan·​na·​be ˈwä-nə-ˌbē 

variants or less commonly wannabee

1

: a person who wants or aspires to be someone or something else or who tries to look or act like someone else

2

: something (such as a company, city, or product) intended to rival another of its kind that has been successful

especially : one for which hopes have failed or are likely to fail

Synonyms of wannabe

• follower
• imitator
• echo

Examples of wannabe in a Sentence

an entrepreneur who seems to have made his fortune mainly by giving how-to-get-rich lectures to entrepreneurial wannabes

Recent Examples on the Web

This is not an attention-grabbing field of gubernatorial wannabes, to put it politely. —George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026

Glatzer, who serves as executive producer, writer, and showrunner of the new series, sought to focus on wannabes rather than billionaires, and also consciously expanded the story beyond tech bros. —Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 7 Jan. 2026

The news isn't all bad for Santa wannabes. —Alain Sherter, CBS News, 23 Dec. 2025

Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and Jonathan and Jordan Knight half-rap over an irritating electronic backbeat like wannabe Beastie Boys. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 4 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from the phrase want to be

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wannabe

• agree
• allee
• banshee
• beastly
• bibi
• bowsprit
• carefree
• cerci
• chablis
• cowpea
• crappie
• crappy