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.
“Now everyone says, ‘Oh, Eileen, I wish I had a Mark Bradford,’” she says.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
There are small infusions of contemporary styles here and there, and one can’t help but wish for a few more.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
"It was really the wish of the Holy Father to be able to do something for the children of Gaza," a close confidant of the late pontiff, Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden, tells me.
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
Do I wish that there were more mechanisms for digital control?
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
One day I’ll be fired, and probably not long from now, and I wish I could bring myself to care more, the way I wish I could bring myself to care more about everything.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Vocabulary lists containing wish
