How to Use wistful in a Sentence

wistful

adjective
  • He had a wistful look on his face.
  • She was wistful for a moment, then asked, “Do you remember the old playground?”.
  • Sapphire had a wistful look on her face.
    — Literary Hub, 22 June 2026
  • There is a lot to be wistful about as summer draws to a close.
    — Washington Post, 23 Apr. 2021
  • One is touched and a bit amused by it all, while the other feels wistful about it.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Faithful stares at her younger image with a hint of wistful pride.
    — Debra Rae Cohen, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2025
  • This is four hours of wistful football flair and drama.
    — Bee Staff february 6, Sacbee.com, 6 Feb. 2026
  • The time has come to quit your wistful longing for the good old days of selling.
    — Henry Devries, Forbes, 29 June 2021
  • Fury, though, also has been more wistful in the leadup to this fight.
    — Josh Katzowitz, Forbes, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Her style, precise and wistful, let in breezes from a mature world.
    — Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2022
  • Elling paused, then picked up the chorus one more time, a wistful coda.
    — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2022
  • There is something wistful about these bursts of self-awareness.
    — Vulture, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Theodore Roosevelt was among the wistful.
    — Literary Hub, 10 June 2026
  • Melvin, for one, sounded a bit wistful for the longer locks on the tall left-hander.
    — Matt Kawahara, SFChronicle.com, 11 July 2020
  • His is no wistful ode to an era that never was, but a clear-eyed look at what’s going on.
    — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 2 Oct. 2017
  • His tone was wistful, with a hint that the fate of legacy would soon be in someone else’s hands.
    — Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2020
  • Reid grew wistful late Sunday night as the drive home awaited.
    — Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 11 May 2026
  • While very much a feel-good movie, there’s a wistful melancholy that ebbs and flows throughout as well.
    — Christopher Arnott, courant.com, 10 Nov. 2021
  • The next look leaves the dungeon behind for a more wistful trip into some witchy woods.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 8 June 2025
  • The artist has been one of my mainstays this year, as has this song that's equal parts lovely and wistful.
    — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 24 Dec. 2021
  • There’s something searching and wistful about it.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 19 Sep. 2025
  • As the sun sank, some guests seemed a little wistful for the glamorous bashes of years past.
    — Sheila Marikar, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2017
  • There’s something searching and wistful about this movie; it couldn’t have been made by a young person.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024
  • But many, wistful for the land they were forced to leave behind, say Afghanistan will always be home.
    — Shannon K. Crawford, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2022
  • Their songs veer from bass-heavy pop, to hip-hop swagger, to wistful ballads that can break your heart in just one verse.
    — Jae-Ha Kim, Rolling Stone, 6 June 2025
  • With a wise and wistful look in her eyes, Flora tells her everyone and no one.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 May 2023
  • The first team-up between both acts, the track is both melancholic and wistful melodies that thrive on a slow tempo.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 16 Sep. 2022
  • With the news of some closures comes a collective sigh, wistful for a piece of greatness lost.
    — Tirion Morris, The Arizona Republic, 7 May 2021
  • The mid-tempo, wistful track is sure to get the cell phone flashlights waving in concert.
    — Melinda Newman, Billboard, 9 Apr. 2021
  • As zany and wistful as Faye Wong, only shorter.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wistful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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