Definition of WISTFULNESS

Wistful Has a Wishful History

Are you yearning to know the history of wistful? If so, we can ease your melancholy a little by telling you that wistful comes from a combination of wishful and wistly, a now obsolete word meaning "intently." We can't say with certainty where wistly came from, but it may have sprung from whistly, an old term meaning "silently" or "quietly." How did the supposed transition from a word meaning "quietly" to one meaning "intently" come about? That's something to muse about, but the answer isn't known.

Examples of wistful in a Sentence

She was wistful for a moment, then asked, “Do you remember the old playground?”. He had a wistful look on his face.

Recent Examples on the Web The early Safdie films were nearly twee, because the main characters tended to be wistful and a little restless. — Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, "The Safdie Brothers’ Full-Immersion Filmmaking," 9 Dec. 2019 And Ross isn’t the only one getting wistful about saying goodbye to the 13RW journey. — De Elizabeth, Teen Vogue, "“13 Reasons Why” Has Officially Wrapped Filming," 21 Dec. 2019 The potent mix of wistful nostalgia, unvarnished sentimentality and daydreamy optimism articulated the hopes and anxieties of war-weary soldiers and citizens alike. — Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE.com, "Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas': The Poignant Story Behind the Enduring Holiday Classic," 22 Nov. 2019 Magic is still found throughout Virtue and Vengeance, but the sense of wide-eyed wonder present in Blood and Bone feels wistful this time around. — Megan Ditrolio, Marie Claire, "Tomi Adeyemi Makes Magic. Again.," 3 Dec. 2019 Another noticeable absence was $37 million for the popular Pure Michigan campaign, a gauzy series of commercials featuring picturesque Michigan vistas with wistful voice-overs by actor Tim Allen, a Michigan native. — Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press, "No talk or money for fixing roads, or Pure Michigan campaign in tentative budget deal," 6 Dec. 2019 Women and minorities are less likely to have a wistful view of the ’50s, and with good reason. — Noah Smith, Twin Cities, "Noah Smith: The 1950s are greatly overrated," 10 Nov. 2019 Hence the wistful sequences, at the back end of the story, with a decrepit Russell confined to a wheelchair, in prison. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, "Remembrance of Kills Past in “The Irishman”," 25 Oct. 2019 But the finale, a rallying cry that’s both galvanizing and wistful, is a wrap-up worth waiting for. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, "Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat Does More Than Explain the Panama Papers—It’s a Rallying Cry Against Greed," 1 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wistful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.