wistful
/ˈwɪstfəl/adjective
wistful is spelled W-I-S-T-F-U-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, wistful means “Full of longing or yearning” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wistful?
| Letters | 7: W-I-S-T-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is wistful?
Wistful appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wistful?
- /ˈwɪstfəl/
Wistful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wistful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wistful
- more wistful comparative
- most wistful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wistful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Full of longing or yearning.
His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.
- 2
Sad and thoughtful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wistful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mélancolique, nostalgique |
| German | wehmütig, sehnsuchtsvoll, nostalgisch , schwermütig, melancholisch |
| Portuguese | saudoso, nostálgico, melancólico |
| Spanish | nostálgico , melancólico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wistful come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).