What does wistful mean?
Word: Wistful
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Wistful means feeling a little sad while thinking about something you miss or want but cannot have, often something from the past.
Synonyms: nostalgic
Antonyms: content
How do you spell wistful?
Syllables: wist - ful
Tricky part: The t after the s is easy to swallow when you say the word fast, so some students write wisful.
Watch out for: wisful, wistfel, wisstful
Memory tip: Think of a wistful look into the distance: wistful and distance both have st in the middle.
Wistful in a sentence
Example 1: Grandma gave a wistful smile as she looked at old photos of her school days.
Example 2: Watching the train pull away, Karan felt wistful about the summer at his cousin's house.
Example 3: The song has a wistful tune that makes some people think of home.
Fun Fact
Wistful has been used in English since the 1600s. Its origin is uncertain; one guess links it to an older word, wistly, which meant intently.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
whistful
a) h
b) f
c) t
d) s
Show answer
a) h. Wistful begins wis-, with no h; it has nothing to do with whistle.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) holiday
b) memories
c) evening
d) wistfull
Show answer
d) wistfull. As an ending, -ful has just one l, so wistful does too.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: wistful
a) restless
b) cheerful
c) longing
d) careless
Show answer
c) longing. A wistful person is longing for something they miss.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tlfiwsu
a) fistful
b) wishful
c) wistful
d) wilful
Show answer
c) wistful. Look for the t: wistful is the only option with w, s and t together.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Grandma looked wistful as she watched the children play. She was probably ____.
a) worried about the coming rain
b) remembering her own childhood
c) annoyed about all the noise
d) planning tomorrow's shopping
Show answer
b) remembering her own childhood
2. Meena felt wistful when she ____.
a) finished her homework early
b) won the drawing contest
c) bought a new pencil box
d) found her old school photo
Show answer
d) found her old school photo
