wishful thinking

noun

: the attribution of reality to what one wishes to be true or the tenuous justification of what one wants to believe

Examples of wishful thinking in a Sentence

The idea that the enemy will immediately surrender is nothing more than wishful thinking.

Recent Examples on the Web

Your social calendar is running on wishful thinking today, not reality. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2026

Connecticut families don’t need a budget built on wishful thinking. — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 23 Sep. 2026

These doubters also disparage as unreliable or wishful thinking the oral histories passed down by Hemings’s descendants who have placed Jefferson in their family tree. — Andrew Lawler, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2026

While putting on a trench or light sweater is still mostly wishful thinking—the hot, humid temps of summer always stick around longer than they’re wanted—now’s the time to start talking about fall fashion. — Joan Kennedy, Vogue, 8 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wishful thinking

• interlinking
• blinking
• clinking
• drinking
• inking
• kinking
• linking
• shrinking
• sinking
• slinking
• stinking
• winking