WISHES Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

wishes 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of wish

as in imposes

to offer (something fake, useless, or inferior) as genuine, useful, or valuable despite my protestations, the dreaded position of club secretary was wished on me

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in wants

to see fit you're free to sit wherever you wish

Synonyms & Similar Words

wishes

2 of 2

noun

plural of wish

as in desires

Related Words

as in respects

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of wishes

Verb

This one goes out to anyone who wishes the play scene in Revolutionary Road had been the whole dang movie. — John Ross, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026 The purchase of a Premier League club in 2021 has come to look like a sound investment, and there is little obvious sense that PIF wishes to back out of St James’ Park. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 Treating against the parents’ wishes would entail calling state authorities and requesting an emergency removal. — Eric Boodman, STAT, 3 Sep. 2026 In the supernatural horror film, a young man wishes for Nikki to love him more than anything, but the wish quickly takes a terrifying turn. — Denis Akbari, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 One only wishes the film could have done the same while also making a fully satisfying meal of the cartoonish villains who’ve come to destroy them. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026 Looking back at the situation, Selberg wishes he had been been granted the opportunity to speak with members of the Collierville Board of Mayor of Aldermen. — Corey Davis, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 27 Aug. 2026 Plotkin also wishes his doctors had been more willing to question the original diagnosis. — Grace Gavilanes, PEOPLE, 24 Aug. 2026 Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York. — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026

Noun

Since 1981, Disney has helped fulfill wishes with the organization for more than 175,000 children, or a wish an hour each day. — Brian Brant, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wishes

Verb

Videos of Cubans exploding in anger and ranting against the government have become frequent despite the severe penalties Cuban law imposes to those who criticize the authorities.

— Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 2026
However, the devices are still laboratory demonstrations, and their substrate imposes a limit.

— Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of imposes

Verb

Quantinuum wants to address that problem through conventional semiconductor manufacturing.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2026
Where the Tea Party was demanding a right-wing agenda for the nation, the DSA wants to dismantle America and rebuild it as a workers' utopia.

— Nolan Finley The Detroit News, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of wants

Noun

Later, the Moon opposes powerful Pluto in Aquarius, creating tension between individual desires and what a group expects.

— Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 7 Sep. 2026
In December 2025, the WSL ran a research project to try to better understand the desires of their fanbase.

— Theo Lloyd-Hughes, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of desires

Noun

In one of the last photographs taken of Astrid, the princess is seen sitting in a wheelchair dressed in all black as royals from Europe and around the world gathered in Oslo to pay their respects to Harald.

— Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026
Yesterday, Yankees players, coaches, and staff had the opportunity to visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to pay their respects to the nearly 3,000 victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of respects

Verb

If a deepfake inflicts commercial damage or misleads consumers, businesses can pursue civil claims for defamation or false light, alongside federal trademark suits under the Lanham Act.

— Allyson Kapin, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Fortunately, Green’s film exists — and was not thrown into a little black hole by a bunch of accountants, never to be seen again — and can surely help cure any of the pain its backstory still inflicts on movie fans and Tunes geeks.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of inflicts

Verb

Coastal decor darling Serena & Lily brings you the Pacifica modular collection to suit any configuration that pleases you.

— Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 28 May 2026
For something more substantial, Ramsey’s pleases both vegetarians and meat eaters with options such as BBQ brisket sandwich with homemade onion straws or Zucchini Noodle Thai Bowl.

— Sarah Miller, Midwest Living, 29 Apr. 2026

Definition of pleases

Noun

The requests were routed through a network of 5,380 accounts that Anthropic described as fraudulent, most of which appeared to be located in Singapore and Japan.

— Jenny Lee, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2026
New Mexico’s Land Office twice blocked requests to run a natural gas pipeline to the data center in New Mexico’s Doña Ana County.

— Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026