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Synonyms

hopeful

American  
[hohp-fuhl] / ˈhoʊp fəl /

adjective

  1. full of hope; expressing hope.

    His hopeful words stimulated optimism.

    Synonyms:
    confident, optimistic, sanguine, expectant
  2. exciting hope; promising advantage or success.

    a hopeful prospect.


noun

  1. a person who shows promise or aspires to success.

    the Democratic presidential hopeful.

hopeful British  
/ ˈhəʊpfʊl /

adjective

  1. having or expressing hope

  2. giving or inspiring hope; promising

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a person considered to be on the brink of success (esp in the phrase a young hopeful )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • hopefulness noun
  • unhopeful adjective
  • unhopefully adverb

Etymology

Origin of hopeful

First recorded in 1560–70; hope + -ful

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.

"If new faces come, I am hopeful there will be changes," Yadav says.

From BBC

A doctor in northern Iran said he was “cautiously hopeful” about the strikes.

From The Wall Street Journal

I exchanged hopeful glances with the women around me.

From Los Angeles Times

I told him that I try to remain hopeful.

From Salon

"However, nature usually has a way of re-balancing, so we are hopeful to get planting in the next month and see the crop grow even faster in the warmer mid or late spring weather."

From BBC