wish
Usage
What are other ways to say wish?
To wish is to feel an impulse toward attainment or possession of something; the strength of the feeling may be of greater or lesser intensity: I wish I could go home. Desire, a more formal verb, suggests a strong wish: They desire liberation. Want, usually colloquial in use, suggests a feeling of lack or need that imperatively demands fulfillment: People all over the world want peace.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There are so many interesting facets of this story, and I wish that the film would have taken the time and the care to tell them.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
She isn’t suited to caring and she doesn’t wish to fill her head with the minutiae of modern dying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Barrera: The aspiration should be to fully inform parents, but the child’s wish should carry the greatest weight, especially as the child grows older.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The bottom line: Be careful what you wish for.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
I wish I had space from him to think.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Maintaining clear communication, transparency and documenting the arrangement helps prevent misunderstandings and jealousy among siblings and ensures that the parents’ wishes are honored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
"If someone else wishes to come and pray, we cannot stop them," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
So I respected his wishes and stayed quiet, and I helped him through his journey into the next chapter of his life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
At the entrance to one registration office, a maternity health leaflet wishes newlyweds “a happy marriage and a speedy pregnancy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
At the moment my desires and my wishes and my plans truly were not any bigger than that: In that moment, my body was tired and it wanted to stop dancing.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
"The fact that the war is beginning to wind down quickly brings relief," the Mekelle resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
The event’s mantra: “Building the tools we wished we’d had for the Hugging Face incident.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"It has taken us much longer than we would have wished, and much longer than we had anticipated would be the case when the hearing concluded, to produce our decision," the commission wrote.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
I wished we had a chance to meet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
He wished “to be shut out from the big world, gazing at your dark eyes …” Writing a letter in the midnight moonlight, she sent him “ten thousand kisses.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that security forces "are not cracking down on young people" but rather "protecting" school and university students wishing to "peacefully voice their demands".
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Somehow, after just two games, the Chargers’ offense under McDaniel has Bolts fans wishing anyone else was running the show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
When I casually revealed the answer to my husband, he shook his head, wishing I hadn’t spoiled it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
I’m not wishing another pandemic on us, mind you.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
We lay back against the straw, wishing for something else to put into our mouths, wishing for another apple.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Vocabulary lists containing wish
