How to Use wistful in a Sentence

wistful

adjective
Definition of wistfulnext
Synonyms for wistfulnext
  • He had a wistful look on his face.
  • She was wistful for a moment, then asked, “Do you remember the old playground?”.
  • My mom fobbed me off with wistful trips around the city.
    — Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2023
  • There is a lot to be wistful about as summer draws to a close.
    — Washington Post, 23 Apr. 2021
  • The Shirkers that Tan has made is a wry and wistful portrait of the artist as a young punk.
    — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan. 2018
  • The time has come to quit your wistful longing for the good old days of selling.
    — Henry Devries, Forbes, 29 June 2021
  • One is touched and a bit amused by it all, while the other feels wistful about it.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Melvin, for one, sounded a bit wistful for the longer locks on the tall left-hander.
    — Matt Kawahara, SFChronicle.com, 11 July 2020
  • Many leave with the store’s signature brown-and-white striped bags, and wistful sighs about the end of an era.
    — Leslie Brody, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2018
  • Fury, though, also has been more wistful in the leadup to this fight.
    — Josh Katzowitz, Forbes, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Watch her return to her small-town Rust Belt home and languish in the big vibes and wistful mood.
    — Julie Muncy, Wired, 25 Nov. 2020
  • His tone was wistful, with a hint that the fate of legacy would soon be in someone else’s hands.
    — Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2020
  • Longtime Mavs fans still get a wistful look thinking about the 1988 team and what might have been.
    — Dallas News, 17 May 2022
  • In some cases, the end of a show marks the end of an era in our own lives, and that can usher in a wistful feeling.
    — Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2022
  • The artist has been one of my mainstays this year, as has this song that's equal parts lovely and wistful.
    — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 24 Dec. 2021
  • Elling paused, then picked up the chorus one more time, a wistful coda.
    — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2022
  • As the sun sank, some guests seemed a little wistful for the glamorous bashes of years past.
    — Sheila Marikar, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2017
  • But many, wistful for the land they were forced to leave behind, say Afghanistan will always be home.
    — Shannon K. Crawford, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2022
  • The first team-up between both acts, the track is both melancholic and wistful melodies that thrive on a slow tempo.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 16 Sep. 2022
  • This is a sober remark, not just a wistful or passing one.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 1 Aug. 2022
  • Her style, precise and wistful, let in breezes from a mature world.
    — Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2022
  • While very much a feel-good movie, there’s a wistful melancholy that ebbs and flows throughout as well.
    — Christopher Arnott, courant.com, 10 Nov. 2021
  • His is no wistful ode to an era that never was, but a clear-eyed look at what’s going on.
    — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 2 Oct. 2017
  • There’s a certain wistful loveliness in all of that, the mind drifting to what could have been.
    — Michael Bamberger, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Though the show stands alone as a teen comedy, there are callbacks to the original for the wistful fans.
    — Editors, USA TODAY, 25 Nov. 2020
  • The mid-tempo, wistful track is sure to get the cell phone flashlights waving in concert.
    — Melinda Newman, Billboard, 9 Apr. 2021
  • With a wise and wistful look in her eyes, Flora tells her everyone and no one.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 May 2023
  • With the news of some closures comes a collective sigh, wistful for a piece of greatness lost.
    — Tirion Morris, The Arizona Republic, 7 May 2021
  • The 40th anniversary of New Orleans’ alt-weekly should be wistful about the past.
    — Mark Karcher, NOLA.com, 8 Dec. 2020
  • Many, like Judith Krovetz of Boynton Beach, are wistful for what feels like a year robbed from the twilight of their lives.
    — Andrew Boryga, sun-sentinel.com, 1 Jan. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wistful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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