Synonyms for wistful
- adjective
Most common
unhappy thoughtful melancholic despondent longing wishful pensive
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Melancholy — sad and thoughtful
melancholy, melancholic, sad, despondent, thoughtful, sorry, unhappy, blue, atrabilious, ruthful, mournful, doleful, somber US, sombre UK, sorrowful, moody, disconsolate, gloomy, downcast, crestfallen, dejected, dispirited, cheerless
3. Pensive
pensive, contemplative, musing, reflective, meditative, ruminative, pondering
Definitions
- adj. 1
Full of longing or yearning.
His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.
- adj. 2
Sad and thoughtful.
Related words
- Word family
- wistfully
- Other spellings
- whistful
Example sentences
- unhappy We are never as happy or as unhappy as we imagine.
- thoughtful It's thoughtful of you to remind me of my promise.
- melancholic She creates verses each time she's melancholic.
- despondent Millions of Russians feel cheated and despondent.
- longing He never lost his whimsical longing for adventure.
- wishful You can't let wishful thinking guide your decisions.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| wistful | rising | |
| unhappy | rising | |
| thoughtful | rising | |
| melancholic | rising | |
| despondent | rising | |
| longing | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- sad1
- 4 letters
- blue1
- 5 letters
- sorry2, eager2, moody2
- 6 letters
- gloomy2, somber2, sombre, musing2
- 7 letters
- unhappy3, longing2, wishful2, pensive2, doleful2, ruthful
- 8 letters
- dejected3, mournful2, desirous3, downcast2, yearnful
- 9 letters
- pondering3, sorrowful3, cheerless
- 10 letters
- thoughtful2, reflective3, melancholy4, meditative4, despondent3, dispirited4, ruminative
- 11 letters
- melancholic4, crestfallen3, atrabilious
- 12 letters
- disconsolate
- 13 letters
- contemplative4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sorry2 = 2 syllables).