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Wistful Has a Wishful History
We see you there, dear reader, gazing silently up at the moon, heart aching to know the history of wistful, as if it could be divined on the lunar surface. And we’d like to ease your melancholy by telling you that the knowledge you seek—nay, pine for—is closer at hand. But the etymology of wistful, while intriguing, is not entirely clear. It’s thought that the word is a combination of wistly, a now-obsolete word meaning “intently” and, perhaps, the similar-sounding wishful. Wistly, in turn, may have come from whistly, an old term meaning “silently” or “quietly.” What’s more certain is that our modern wistful is a great word to describe someone full of pensive yearning, or something inspiring such yearning.
Examples of wistful in a Sentence
Hazlitt, 26 June 2024
In telling their story, the film wrestles with notions of captivity, personal and political relationships, and the wistful longing for peace in a region plunged into war.
—Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 20 June 2024
She’s seen the film three times so far, which has stirred up her own wistful feelings.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 20 June 2024
But still, the new coach can’t help but feel a bit wistful thinking back on the month his staff spent rebuilding USC’s roster from scratch.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for wistful 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wistful.' 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
“Wistful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wistful. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
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