Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use wish in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Wish means a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen. Example: “It is my wish that the bequest (should) be given to an almshouse.”

Examples of wish by meaning

nounA desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.

  • It is my wish that the bequest (should) be given to an almshouse.
  • make someone's wish come true
  • Send this message to six beings of your acquaintance, and your greatest wish shall come true!2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!

nounAn expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.

  • make a wish

nounThe thing desired or longed for.

  • My dearest wish is to see them happily married.
  • You have my best wishes.
  • How could wishes be granted in these days?1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw

verbTo desire; to want.

  • I'll come tomorrow, if you wish (it).
  • I wish it to be known that I wish them all to leave the company.
  • Anyone who wishes an aisle seat should see an attendant.

verbTo hope (for a particular outcome), even if that outcome is unlikely to occur or cannot occur.

  • I wish I could go back in time and teach myself what I know now.
  • I wished (that) it would rain.
  • "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly.1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw

verbTo bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).

  • We wish you a merry Christmas.
  • I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

verbTo request or desire to do an activity.

  • Anyone who wishes to may leave now.
  • Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

More sentences with wish

  • Sorry, my English isn't very good. I wish I had better English.From the entry english
  • Jonny always bots off me. I just wish he’d get his own pack.From the entry bot
  • While reading her book, Sally leaned back against her husband, wishing it were the human kind.From the entry husband
  • "Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.From the entry law
  • I wish I knew why the sewing machine binds up after I use it for a while.From the entry bind
  • He does sometimes half wish to change his life, but it is too difficult.From the entry half
  • Those who wish to walk in the parade this fall should sign up now.From the entry walk
  • Infertility is a considerable obstacle for women wishing to make a family.From the entry infertility
  • The scientist recorded the temperature with a thermometer, but wished he had a more accurate instrument.From the entry instrument
  • Many Catholics wished to see Pope John Paul II sainted immediately after his death.From the entry saint
  • I wish I'd commented this complicated algorithm back when I remembered how it worked.From the entry comment
  • He's always very formal, and I wish he'd relax a bit.From the entry formal
  • Our wishes were honored by changing the date of the wedding.From the entry honor
  • Fred wished to elicit the time of the meeting from Jane.From the entry elicit
  • I wish more people would look for pets at the shelter before turning to breeders!From the entry shelter
  • I feel I hardly know him; I just wish he'd communicate with me a little more.From the entry communicate
  • Since you're such an athletic person, you may wish to consider joining.From the entry athletic
  • I wish he could do his job as well as he schmoozes with the boss.From the entry schmooze
  • A number of group members wish to dissociate themselves from the majority.From the entry dissociate
  • The bitter wind made me wish I hadn't opted for that unlined coat.From the entry unlined
  • I wish I had thought of a quick comeback for his comment.From the entry comeback
  • I wish he'd lighten up a bit and realize that we were only joking.From the entry lighten up
  • I wish she weren't always so black and white about every single thing.From the entry black and white

Meaning of wish

  1. noun A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
  2. noun An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.
  3. noun The thing desired or longed for.

Full definition of wish

Questions about wish in a sentence

How do you use wish in a sentence?
Wish is used as a noun and verb. For example: “It is my wish that the bequest (should) be given to an almshouse.”
What is a short sentence with wish?
“make a wish”
What does wish mean?
Wish means a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wish (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use wish in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/wish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.