wistfully, adv.
(ˈwɪstfʊlɪ)
[f. prec. + -ly2.]
† 1. With close attention, intently; with an inquiring look. Obs.
| 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 464 With that he fell again to pry Through Perspective more wistfully. 1713 Addison Guardian No. 139 ¶2 [The lion] after having regarded him [sc. Androcles] a little wistfully, fell to the ground, and crept towards his feet. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy II. xii, Brother Shandy, answered my uncle Toby, looking wistfully in his face,—you are much mistaken. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike x. 115 Martha looked wistfully from one to the other, not understanding the grounds of the dispute. |
2. With expectant or yearning eagerness; with mournful expectancy or longing.
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 191 Eccho..His doleful wailings did resound, More wistfully by many times, Than in small Poets splay-foot Rhimes. 1758 Goldsm. Mem. Protestant (1895) I. 256 Two of the Grenadiers passing by..and looking wistfully at the House; said one to the other, Comrade, let us halt, and take a little drop of Dram. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 90 Sore and shackled as I was, I got..on deck, and looked wistfully out at sea. 1823 Byron Island iii. vi, He..strode to where young Torquil stood,..Seized his hand wistfully, but did not press. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 53 The Catholic league gazed wistfully from Flanders at their intended prey. 1883 Ruskin Fors Clav. xc. 165 The girl wandered about wistfully a year or two longer, then died. |
So ˈwistfulness.
| 1775 Ash. 1847 F. Nightingale in Sir E. Cook Life (1913) I. i. v. 71 There is an uncertainty, a wistfulness in her eyes. 1887 Hall Caine Son of Hagar i. ii, The lucent eyes were full of a dewy wistfulness. |