wistfulness

[US]/'wistfəlnis/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

n. a feeling of longing or desire.

Phrases & Collocations

feelings of wistfulness

Example Sentences

But aides say they detect a bit of wistfulness in his voice.

a sense of wistfulness

wistfulness in her voice

a hint of wistfulness

wistfulness in his eyes

Real-world Examples

It has a wistfulness to it, a persuasiveness that really gets you in the heart.

Source: Appreciation of English Poetry

Maybe, she said with a hint of wistfulness, he could enjoy it with his own young children.

Source: Past exam papers for the English major level 4 reading section.

And her filmy wandering eyes fixed themselves with an intensity of wistfulness on Mrs. Thornton's face.

Source: South and North (Middle)

Then, being twenty-two, she was apt to conclude the mystic interview by laughing at herself, though not without a continued wistfulness.

Source: Lonely Heart (Part 1)

He smiles warmly toward Cameron and adds with just a hint of wistfulness, He was a sweetie. But the sweetness of those early years would sour in cinematic fashion.

Source: People Magazine

" Do you dislike my mind-reading" ? she asked, and, across their two just touching shoulders, gave him her sudden look of smiling wistfulness. " Do you hate it" ?

Source: Lonely Heart (Part 1)

We were in the same Senior Society, and while we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me to like him with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own.

Source: The Great Gatsby (Original Version)

The oversize, silky, mutton-chop, sleeve on the aristocratic stone ledge, a picture which would be creamy with self-congratulation, were it not for a trace of wistfulness about his face, as if he can't quite believe all this success.

Source: The Power of Art - Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

Mr. Grew's chest collapsed, and he became suddenly conscious of his comic face in its rim of sandy whiskers. " That's not the only way, " he said, with a touch of wistfulness which escaped his wife's analysis.

Source: Humans and Ghosts (Part 1)

I found a card for a funeral service for Terrence Weber, so I tried Frank Weber and discovered, with some wistfulness, that she had named her son after her beloved husband, who had died years before he was even born.

Source: Still Me (Me Before You #3)

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