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:
Neill, reminiscing on mortality, said this wish was inspired by a painting he owned by Helena Bonham Carter’s mother, Elena Propper de Callejón.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Housel, the author of The Psychology of Money, a book I wish I’d written, has written another book I wish I’d written.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
I wish that we could all see that we all do want the same thing; we all want our children to be safe.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
While she does not wish to reveal how much she now earns, she says that as she changed jobs her salary didn't increase much.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
I kind of wish I could erase him.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
"He started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn't done it and then kept going around and just doing stuff, I think to keep himself busy or distracted or something," Twiggs said.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Swifties in NYC hope to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift and send their well wishes for Swift’s nuptials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
That doesn’t consider any legacy wishes you have, but that’s not what seems to be keeping you up at night.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
The prince has since said he wishes to reconcile with his father, but relations appeared frosty on the eve of the visit.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
I will work very hard to make sure my pictures match the meaning of the words the pharaoh wishes to convey.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
Given that situation in 2028, if Yamamoto wished to pitch for Japan, he would have to be available for the All-Star Game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Zelensky wished him a happy birthday and asked how he was doing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
"She wished me good luck for the rest of the year and congratulated me for these two weeks."
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Meanwhile, 3% said they have wished to decline an invitation themselves but felt too judged.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
As I drifted back to sleep, I wished and wished that, when I woke again, the early-morning’s events would turn out to have been a bad dream.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
In 1915, a German hand-decorated a gin bottle with a skull-faced, spike-helmeted soldier wishing its owner good luck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy congratulated the shortlisted places, while wishing them luck for the next stage of the process.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
“I realized a lot of wives were wishing their husbands were there and they weren’t,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Videos he posted were met with a surge of interest from others wishing to join.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
She smiled and scratched each of them in turn, wishing she had more hands.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Vocabulary lists containing wish
