wannabe

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.

Characters are caricatures, be it a villain that feels plucked from a cartoon western, complete with a purring raccoon for a sidekick, to a greedy wannabe politician of a bank manager.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

“There’s a pool, I think, of wannabe buyers who have just been sitting on the sidelines and waiting for rates to come down,” Daniel Seely said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

In Hollywood, there’s an old joke among wannabe actors scraping by doing odd jobs between auditions: “Well, right now I’m parking cars, but what I really want to do is direct!”

From Salon • Jan. 1, 2026

"Never in your life label me a thug again. Never label me a wannabe gangster," he said.

From BBC • Nov. 27, 2025

I know they were stretched thin, but you can’t leave an entire relief effort to a bunch of wannabe feds.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman