Meanings
adverbwistly (comparative more wistly, superlative most wistly)
comparative more wistly · superlative most wistly
- obsoleteIn an intent manner, with close attention; intently; attentively.
… which makes him eye this gentlewoman a little more wistly …
2007, Peter Marshall, Mother Leakey and the Bishop: A Ghost Story, Oxford Univ. Press, →ISBN
Origin
Possibly an alternative form of whistly, or whishtly (“quietly”). By surface analysis, whist (“silent, hushed”) + -ly.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
wistly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wistly
MLA
“wistly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wistly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wistly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wistly.
Source: wistly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.