What does the word wistful mean?

    Part of speech: noun

  • Wistfulness.

  • Part of speech: adverb

  • Wistfully.

  • Part of speech: adjective

  • Wishful; longing.

Usage examples for wistful

  1. At the time we shall again bring him personally before the reader, he was leaning against an iron fence that, running along the left wing of the house, separated the pleasure- grounds from the park, and gazing with folded arms and wistful eyes upon the scene on which the dusk of twilight was gradually gathering. – The Disowned, Complete by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  2. All she said was this: I asked her if she had enjoyed her walk with him, and she said, 'He's the most wistful creature I've ever known. – The Turmoil A Novel by Booth Tarkington
  3. He was smiling in a gentle, wistful way. – Every Man for Himself by Norman Duncan