1
as in promising
having qualities which inspire hope
economists are offering a hopeful forecast for a healthy economy in the coming year
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2
as in encouraging
pointing toward a happy outcome
in a hopeful response to the ad, several people called to say they'd seen our lost cat
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as in candidate
one who seeks an office, honor, position, or award
the three mayoral hopefuls are going to debate on local TV
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Examples of hopeful in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Yusuf Sar, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
One of the things a lot of us in the paleontological community are hopeful for is that the bidder that purchased Apex has a long history of working with natural history museums and putting those specimens on display and doing a lot of paleontological and museum educational outreach.
—Abc News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2024
Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
Senate Democratic hopefuls had quietly resigned themselves to having to win by overcoming Biden.
—Justin Green, Axios, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hopeful 
Adjective
While the hopeful outlook persists, immediate action is necessary.
—Yusuf Sar, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
One of the things a lot of us in the paleontological community are hopeful for is that the bidder that purchased Apex has a long history of working with natural history museums and putting those specimens on display and doing a lot of paleontological and museum educational outreach.
—Abc News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2024
Noun
However, while the preseason game results don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, what transpires in those contests does make a difference for so many rookies, team newcomers and roster bubble hopefuls.
—Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
Senate Democratic hopefuls had quietly resigned themselves to having to win by overcoming Biden.
—Justin Green, Axios, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hopeful
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hopeful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hopeful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopeful. Accessed 13 Sep. 2024.
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