wistfulness

W4I1S1T1F4U1L1N1E1S1S1

noun

The state or characteristic of being wistful.

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Meanings

nounwistfulness (usually uncountable, plural wistfulnesses)

plural wistfulnesses

  1. uncountableusuallyThe state or characteristic of being wistful.

    It’s a lovely sequence cut too short because the show seems afraid to give itself over to romance and whimsy and wistfulness when it has wedgie jokes to deliver.

    2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club
    1 more example

    She was no longer the alert, vivacious American beauty who had charmed and delighted all who came in contact with her. Instead she was a very quiet and sad little girl—with an expression of hopeless wistfulness that none but Hazel Strong could interpret.

    1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 114

Origin

From wistful + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

wistfulness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wistfulness

MLA

“wistfulness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wistfulness. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wistfulness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wistfulness.

Source: wistfulness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.