C2adjective · rare

wistful

wistful · more wistful · most wistful

сумний, тужливий, меланхолійний, ностальгійний

печальный, грустный, тоскливый, задумчивый

nostalgisch, wehmütig, melancholisch, sehnsuchtsvoll

Full of longing or yearningFull of longing or yearning.

ⓘ

/ˈwɪstfəl/

» He has a wistful look on his face.

Meaning

2 senses

Full of longing or yearning.
His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.
wehmütig, sehnsuchtsvoll, nostalgisch
тоску́ющийtoskújuščij, томя́щийсяtomjáščijsja, тоскли́выйtosklívyj
тужливийtužlyvyj, ностальгійнийnostalʹhijnyj
Sad and thoughtful.
schwermütig, melancholisch
заду́мчивыйzadúmčivyj, гру́стныйgrústnyj, печа́льныйpečálʹnyj
задумливийzadumlyvyj, сумнийsumnyj, меланхолійнийmelanxolijnyj

More definitions

showing pensive sadness

Examples

5 sentences

He has a wistful look on his face.
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Ah, this song makes me feel all wistful.
deAch, dieses Lied stimmt mich ganz wehmütig.
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Her wistful smile belied the sadness she felt at having to leave.
ruЕё задумчиво-грустная улыбка выдавала печаль от вынужденного расставания.
deIhr wehmütiges Lächeln verbarg die Traurigkeit, die sie empfand, weil sie gehen musste.
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Her wistful smile betrayed the sadness she felt at having to leave.
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The wistful and yearning "Franz Schubert" segues into the valedictory "Endless Endless", the closing track on Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express album.
deDas wehmütige und sehnsuchtsvolle „Franz Schubert“ geht über in das abschiednehmende „Endlos, Endlos“, das Schlußstück auf dem Kraftwerk-Album „Trans-Europa-Expreß“.
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Translations

8 languages

Українська

By meaning 2

full of longing:

sad and thoughtful:

Русский

By meaning 2

full of longing:

sad and thoughtful:

Deutsch

By meaning 2

full of longing:

sad and thoughtful:

Origin

Presumably from *whistful, from whist (“silent”) + -ful, based on older wistly. It is impl

Presumably from *whistful, from whist (“silent”) + -ful, based on older wistly. It is implausible that it derives from wishful, the required sound change being wishful → *wisful → wistful, which could not occur in Modern English, particularly not with wishful continuing in use. However, the sense of “longing” appears to be influenced by wishful, making wistful an ambiguous poetic word.

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