Hopeful

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈhəʊpfl̩/

Definitions

1. A feeling of optimism or expectation that something desired will happen or turn out well
2. A mental state characterized by a positive outlook on future events or circumstances, often accompanied by a desire for positive change or improvement
3. Feeling or showing a confident expectation that good things will occur soon

Etymology: The adjective "hopeful" is a simple formation: the noun "hope" with the suffix "-ful", meaning "full of" or "characterised by". So a hopeful person is, literally, full of hope. The "hope" part goes back to Old English "hopa", which in turn belongs to a Proto-West Germanic family whose members are closely tied to the idea of trust and expectation rather than wishing alone. The suffix has a longer pedigree. "-ful" descends from a Proto-Germanic form, "*fullaz", meaning "full", the same word that gives us the adjective "full" itself. Over centuries it shrank from a free-standing word into a dependable ending, which is why it attaches so easily to nouns like "thought", "care" and "hope" to produce adjectives describing what those nouns contain in abundance.

Synonyms: optimistic, aspirational, encouraging, positive, expectant

Antonyms: pessimistic, despairing, hopeless, cynical, discouraging