Meaning & use
wishfully
Last updated
Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that shows a hopeful longing for something you would like to happen.
Grammar: Modifies a verb, such as gazed or sighed: she sighed wishfully.
Patterns
- look wishfully at something
- think wishfully
The child gazed wishfully at the toy in the shop window.
He looked wishfully at the empty seat beside her.
She sighed wishfully as the ship sailed away without her.
adverbnot comparabledisapproving
In a way that treats something as true or likely simply because you want it to be.
Grammar: Usually describes thinking or hoping: he thought wishfully.
Patterns
- think wishfully
- hope wishfully
He was thinking wishfully when he predicted the team would win every game.
They hoped wishfully that the storm would turn away from the town.
Wishfully, she assumed the manager had forgotten the deadline.
Common combinations
- gaze wishfully
- The boys gazed wishfully at the football field.
- sigh wishfully
- She sighed wishfully at the photo of the beach.
- think wishfully
- You are thinking wishfully if you expect rain to cool the heat wave.
- look wishfully
- He looked wishfully at the last slice of cake.
Synonyms and how they differ
- longingly
- Longingly stresses a deep, aching desire, while wishfully is lighter and can be about idle hope.
- hopefully
- Hopefully is a general word for expecting something good, while wishfully suggests the hope may be unrealistic.
- yearningly
- Yearningly is more intense and poetic than the lightly wistful wishfully.
- optimistically
- Optimistically is neutral and can be justified by facts, while wishfully hints at fantasy.
Opposites
Word family
- wish verb
- to want something that is unlikely or impossible
- wishful adjective
- wanting or hoping for something
- wishfulness noun
- the state of hopeful longing
- wishful thinking noun
- believing something because you want it to be true
Commonly confused: wishfully or wistfully?
wishfully vs wistfully
Wistfully means with gentle sadness about something past or out of reach, while wishfully means with hopeful wanting.
Practice
The little girl looked ____ at the ice cream truck, hoping her mother would say yes.
Choose one answer.
Wishfully fits because she is hoping for something she wants. Angrily, suddenly and carefully describe other manners that do not match the hope in the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wishfully”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.