Synonyms of wistful

wistful

adjective

as in nostalgic

showing or evoking a sad longing for an often idealized past

She felt wistful looking through her college yearbook, remembering old friends she had not seen in decades.

Related Words

• nostalgic
• dreamy
• sloppy
• moony
• misty-eyed
• sentimental
• wet
• moonstruck
• melodramatic
• sticky
• starry-eyed
• mawkish
• soapy
• maudlin
• schmaltzy
• cloying
• saccharine
• sudsy
• sappy
• drippy
• gooey
• sugary
• soppy
• mushy
• corny
• soap-operatic
• chocolate-box
• cutesy
• sugarcoated
• slushy
• lovey-dovey
• soupy
• spoony
• twee
• fruity
• novelettish

Dissimilar Words

• cynical
• hardheaded
• unsentimental
• hard-edged
• hard-boiled
• antisentimental

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of wistful

In drone shots scored to generic indie-pop, Wendy (Dakota Fanning) drives into town, looking vaguely wistful under opening credits — so far, so romcom. — Vadim Rizov, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026

Anton, whose gaze at the couple can only be described as wistful. — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026

After that feral beginning, the rest of the album is mostly contemplative, wistful, and understated, amid cascading guitars and various sounds that are at times acoustic or gently swirling. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 25 Aug. 2026

The result is a self-reflective collection of empowering pop anthems and wistful ballads that detail not only the dissolution of a relationship but a return to oneself. — Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 21 Aug. 2026

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