wish
/ˈwɪʃ/
wish noun: a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
Noun
wish (plural wishes)
- A 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
- An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.
- make a wish
- LESTER: You believe in wishes? I mean, you believe they come true?
CHESTER: Nah. I believe in wishes, but I don't believe they come true. Not unless it's a real easy wish, like "I wish I was at a birthday party." But you gotta blow out all the candles, or else the wish don't come true. If one...2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 237
- The thing desired or longed for.
- My dearest wish is to see them happily married.
- You have my best wishes.
- A water meadow.
Verb
wish (third-person singular simple present wishes, present participle wishing, simple past and past participle wished)
- To 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.
- To hope (+ object clause with may or in present subjunctive).
- I wish he mean me well, that he takes so much pains!1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXXXIV”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn...
- She hears that Miss Bigg is to be married in a fortnight. I wish it may be so.1808, Jane Austen, letter, 1 October
- To hope (for a particular outcome), even if that outcome is unlikely to occur or cannot occur.
- This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for.1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures
- Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw
- To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
- We wish you a merry Christmas.
- I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
- To request or desire to do an activity.
- Anyone who wishes to may leave now.
- Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. 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. With more settled...2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
- To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.
- I was wished to your worship by a gentleman.1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet...
- Farewell: yet for the loue I beare my sweet Bianca, if I can by any meanes light on a fit man to teach her that wherein she delights, I will wish him to her father.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Proper noun capitalized: Wish
Wish
- A surname.
- There was Evans, and that marvel among actors, Wish, who is also a modest man. We had all come down to the Mermaid Club that Saturday morning, except Clayton, who had slept there overnight […]1902, H. G. Wells, The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost
wish meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
wish in Hindi
- desire
- आशा āśā, इच्छा icchā, अभिलाषा abhilāṣā, कामना kāmnā, आकांक्षा ākāṅkṣā, चाह cāh
- to hope for an outcome
- चाहना cāhnā, तमन्ना tamannā
wish in Tamil
- desire
- ஆசை ācai, விருப்பம் viruppam
- to hope for an outcome
- விரும்பு virumpu
- to bestow a thought
- வாழ்த்து vāḻttu
wish in Marathi
- desire
- इच्छा icchā, वासना vāsnā
wish in Urdu
- to hope for an outcome
- چاہنا cāhnā
More languagesFewer languages
- wish in Bengali
- আরজু arzu, আরমান arman, তামান্না tamanna, ইচ্ছা iccha
- wish in Telugu
- కోరిక kōrika, అభిలాష abhilāṣa, అభిలషించు abhilaṣiñcu, కోరు kōru
- wish in Malayalam
- ഇച്ഛ iccha, സമീഹിതം samīhitaṁ, ആശിക്കുക āśikkuka, ആഗ്രഹിക്കുക āgrahikkuka
- wish in Kannada
- ಇಚ್ಛಿಸು icchisu, ಆಸೆ āse
- wish in Punjabi
- توقع tauaqquʻ, ਤਵੱਕ਼ੋ tavaqqo, ਤਲਬ talab
- wish in Gujarati
- ઇચ્છા icchā, આશા āśā
- wish in Odia
- ଆକୂତି ākuti, ମନ mana, ଖୁସି khusi
- wish in Sanskrit
- इच्छा icchā, स्पृहा spṛhā, काङ्क्षा kāṅkṣā, प्रकाङ्क्षति prakāṅkṣati
- wish in Assamese
- হেঁপাহ hẽpah, ইচ্ছা issa, বাঞ্ছা bañsa
- wish in Nepali
- कामना kāmanā
- wish in Pashto
- ارمان armā́n
- wish in Arabic
- أُمْنِيَّة ʔumniyya, رَغْبَة raḡba, مُنْيَة munya, تَمَنَّى tamannā
- wish in Indonesian
- harapan, keinginan
- wish in Persian
- آرزو ârezu, آرزو داشتن ârezu dâštan, آرزو کردن ârezu kardan, خواستن xâstan
- wish in Thai
- ประสงค์ bprà-sǒng
- wish in Vietnamese
- mong muốn, chúc, cầu mong, muốn
Examples of wish in a sentence
- Anyone who wishes an aisle seat should see an attendant.
- Oh, (I wish) that I'd never been born.
- I wish I could go back in time and teach myself what I know now.
- I wished (that) it would rain.
- 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!:
- How could wishes be granted in these days?1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw:
Forms of wish
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | wishes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | wishes |
| present participle | wishing |
| past participle | wished |
| past | wished |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | wishest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | wishedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | wisheth |
Origin of wish
From Middle English wisshen, wischen, wüschen, from Old English wȳsċan (“to wish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunskijan, from Proto-Germanic *wunskijaną (“to wish”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to wish, love”). Cognate with Scots wis (“to wish”), Saterland Frisian wonskje (“to wish”), West Frisian winskje (“to wish”), Dutch wensen (“to wish”), German wünschen (“to wish”), Luxembourgish wënschen (“to wish”), Yiddish ווינטשן (vintshn, “to wish”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ønske (“to wish”), Faroese ynskja (“to wish, to desire”), Icelandic æskja, óska (“to wish”), Norwegian Nynorsk ønskja, ønskje, ønska, ønske, ynskja, ynskje (“to wish, to desire”), Swedish önska (“to wish”). Via PIE cognate with Latin Venus, veneror (“venerate, honour, love”), English wonder.
Words formed from wish
- best wishes
- death wish
- fish one's wish
- good wishes
- if wishes were horses, beggars would ride
- make a wish
- wish away
- wishbone
- wish-cycling
- wishful
- wish list
- wishlist
- wish-list
- wish sandwich
- your wish is my command
- as you wish
- be careful what you wish for
- half wish
- ill-wish
- I wish
- I wish I may be shot
- unwish
- well-wish
- well-wisher
- wisher
- wish-fulfilling
- wish fulfilment
- wish on a star
- wish one joy of it
- wish someone ill
- wish someone well
- wish upon a star
- wish-wash
- wish well
- wish you well
- you wish
Phrases with wish
Words that rhyme with wish
Questions about wish
- What does wish mean?
- Wish means a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
- What is wish in Hindi?
- Wish in Hindi is आशा (āśā), इच्छा (icchā), अभिलाषा (abhilāṣā). See Wish meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use wish in a sentence?
- Anyone who wishes an aisle seat should see an attendant.
- What part of speech is wish?
- Wish can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce wish?
- Wish is pronounced /ˈwɪʃ/.
- What is the plural of wish?
- The plural of wish is wishes.
Words near wish in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: wish (page history and authors); Wish (page history and authors); ആഗ്രഹിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಆಸೆ (Kannada) (page history and authors); توقع (Punjabi) (page history and authors); આશા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଆକୂତି (Odia) (page history and authors); कामना (Nepali) (page history and authors); ارمان (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-wish.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wish.wav.
Cite this entry: “wish.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.