wishful
adjUK /ˈwɪʃfəl/
Etymology From wish + -ful.
1
Obsolete Wished-for; desired, wanted.
- The cry whereof entring the hollow cave / Eftsoones brought forth the villaine, as they ment, / With hope of her some wishfull boot to have.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
2
Expressing a wish or longing for something.
- When she weighed anchor I went to the waterside and looked at her with a very wishful and aching heart, and followed her with my eyes and tears until she was totally out of sight.1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 5, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:
3
Aspiring, or seeking advancement.
- Derived terms
- wishful hoping, wishfully, wishfulness, wishful recycling, wishful thinker, wishful thinking, wishful thought