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Webster 1913 Edition

Wistful

Wist′ful

,
Adj.
[For
wishful
; perhaps influenced by
wistly
, which is probably corrupted from OE.
wisly
certainly (from Icel.
viss
certain, akin to E.
wit
). See
Wish
.]
1.
Longing; wishful; desirous.
Lifting up one of my sashes, I cast many a
wistful
, melancholy look towards the sea.
Swift.
2.
Full of thought; eagerly attentive; meditative; musing; pensive; contemplative.
That he who there at such an hour hath been,
Will
wistful
linger on that hallowed spot.
Byron.
–
Wist′ful-ly
,
adv.
–
Wist′ful-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition

Wistful

WISTFUL

,
Adj.
[from wist. The sense is stretching or reaching towards.] Full of thoughts; earnest; attentive.
Why--dost thou so wistful seem?

Definition 2024

wistful

wistful

English

Adjective

wistful ‎(comparative more wistful, superlative most wistful)

  1. Full of yearning or longing.
    His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.
  2. Sad and thoughtful.

Synonyms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ Century Dictionary, wistful etymology at WordNik

Etymology

Presumably from *whistful, from whist ‎(“silent”) + -ful, based on older wistly. It is implausible that it derives from wishful, the required sound change being wishful → *wisful → wistful, and could not occur in Modern English, particularly not with wishful continuing in use. However, the sense of “longing” appears to be influenced by wishful, with wistful being an ambiguous poetic word.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwɪstfəl/

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