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:
"At that time, my greatest wish was to go out of the countryside, find a job and be able to eat better food."
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
“Everything goes too dang fast. There’s some long days throughout the years, but it all goes too fast. You wish you could slow it all down.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Phukan declined to comment on Doley's detention, saying: "We do not wish to make any observation... that could prejudice the investigation or judicial proceedings" and added that the administration remained "extremely sensitive" to local concerns.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Is there a simple strategy that you wish you had known when you first started investing?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
I moved as fast as I could and I wish I could have moved faster.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
I want to make sure that her wishes are properly documented and that she is protected from any potential challenge to the new will.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
"He had very limited family involvement around his passing but we assured it was appropriate, met his wishes and was dignified."
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
To honor their mother’s wishes, three siblings return to the island of their childhood summers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The final vote came on Monday on a consent calendar, the place for matters considered so routine that no legislator even wishes to discuss them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Yes, I’d keep all the wishes for myself, if I had them,” Llewelyn chirped.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
They said they wished for him to be remembered "for the wonderful person he was and all that he achieved".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
None of the employees contacted by AFP wished to comment on the site's future.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Leave college, keep the network: “Not once” does Guo say she wished she’d taken more courses at Carnegie Mellon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Hunnam’s take on Gein’s voice is based on information that described him as having a very young mental age and on his mother’s insistence that she wished he’d been born a girl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
We talked about Grace sometimes, the way she was fiery and romantic and how she wished she could do what I was doing, how the Hello Girls were inspiring girls all over the world.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The guidance would support communities wishing to set up dark sky sites, which are locations with little or no light pollution.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Officials did acknowledge that the move would “shake things up” as governments wishing to exchange excess dollars for gold would no longer be paid at the $35-an-ounce price.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
But sometimes, remodeling leaves homeowners with a sour taste in their mouth and wishing they’d skipped the project entirely.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
Hansard will lie in repose for those wishing to pay their respects.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
I call out, wishing them a long life and good luck.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Vocabulary lists containing wish
