How To Use Wistful In A Sentence

A wistful little architectural songwriting gem. Times, Sunday Times
And so, against all the odds, and all the elements, Powell got to make his wistful and impassioned film.
Wistfully, William Wordsworth wrote: en and everyone understood what the poet meant.
The delectable little Dutch songs with which she used to dulcify the house grew less and less frequent, and she would forget her sewing and look wistfully in her father's face as he sat pondering by the fireside. Tales of a Traveller
I just wish to hell one of the bennies was a salary, she thought wistfully. Children Of The Night

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I could hear the traces of a wistful smile in his voice.
Like the Poco Allegretto of the composer's third symphony, the wistful melody of this movement gives the score poignancy that stamps it as one of the great creations of the romantic era.
The human landscape so lovingly evoked by Leigh Fermor, Lawrence Durrell and others is now a wistful memory.
For her father's comfort, noting the sad wistful eyes that watched her coming in and going out, she had resigned herself to spend long melancholy hours within doors, reading aloud till Sir John fell asleep, playing backgammon -- a game she detested worse even than shove-halfpenny, which latter primitive game they played sometimes on the shovel-board in the hall. London Pride Or When the World Was Younger
The result is a beguiling and wistful study of displaced people that conveys the paradoxical loneliness and richness of cosmopolitan life. Times, Sunday Times
He was so wistful as he said, `I wanted Antioch to let me drive the pusher. THE TARTAN RINGERS
It might have been because I was gazing wistfully at him as he strode in our direction.
The steppe was a vast plain that shone with ponds and corkscrew rivers and evoked a wistful sadness. Wolves Eat Dogs
Clarke has responded to his critics with a dollop of wistful regret, followed by an adamant refusal to back down.
This song started off sounding rather wistful and unobtrusive, but then grew into a psychedelic swirl of beats, voice and guitar that became completely captivating.
They were by the vending machines, looking wistful, waiting, but the parent with money never came. LOST CHILDREN
Hanging in the heart of Edinburgh, Constable's vision of Dedham Vale is a wistful window on to the very soul of rural England.
The dictionary defines nostalgia as 'a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past '. Times, Sunday Times
There's something wistfully pinheaded about deliberative democracy - it sounds a lot like law school.
Director Bob Baker seems to have an innate understanding of the Coward paradox, that wistful vitriol.
The drum machine offbeats are still present, but instead of snarky basslines and slow grinds, the song features a wistfully high organ stomp, and shifting tempos throughout.
It was really an admirable little dinner; the claret was a famous one from the Anglemere cellars, and warmed to a nicety; the coffee was perfection; Sparling's ministrations left nothing to be desired; and yet Drake sank into his easy-chair after the meal with a sigh that was weary and wistful. Nell, of Shorne Mills or, One Heart's Burden
Their dialogue is gauche at times, but that is part of the realism that underpins the film 's wistful pathos. Times, Sunday Times
If you ask about her previous boyfriend and she gets a small, wistful smile on her face, change the subject.
He looked so wistful as he went away, hearing the frolic and evidently having none of his own. Little Women
Schiff was not afraid to make a wistful gesture in the adagio with a slight bending back of his head, nor to smile during the most tender phrases of the allegretto.
Patrice enlisted one kid, a 17-year-old boy, to paint her a postcard and then, once he'd rendered a wistful-looking coconut tree on a desolate beach, she said, ‘I don't think I'm going to send it - uh-uh.
Also looking wistfully at the three library books I must return tomorrow; I've had them for six weeks, but have scarce made a dent in them, such is my perdition.
He smiled wistfully and we got up leaving money and a tip on the table.
The entire point of this post wasn't to engage in wistful remembrances.
She glanced wistfully at the picture of Amber on the mantelpiece.
Christian's eyebrows rose good-naturedly and his bow shaped mouth formed a wistful smile.
A stooping, dispirited Adam and a wistful Eve walk slowly through a lush garden with gravid fruit trees and a profusion of animals, as a flaming red cherub, his sword raised, glowers against a possible return.
And, of course, wistful comparisons with countries that operate pari-mutuel monopolies, as if that has any relevance to Britain, where there does not seem to be any shortage of horses, owners or racing in the record fixture list. Eight years on, and the bookies and racing are as far apart as ever
Her sigh, breathy and almost wistful, was edged with relief.
A delicate wing, gauzy and transparent, spread in her hands, spanning her fingers, its lacy intricacy provoking a thoughtful quietness, a sad wistfulness.
Just listen to the predatory come-hither that is "Come to Me High", which proves Rumer can be as ripe as she is wistful. Rumer: Seasons of My Soul – review
There's a slightly wistful look. The Sun
Being an "empath" may explain her wistful connection to the roiling waves of the ocean, the sanctuary it provides, and the sexual urges that seem to emanate from fathoms below … Archive 2007-02-01
No, not at all, he is quiet and rather wistful and likes a funny joke. Times, Sunday Times
This autumn song is more subdued than the spring song, and sounds rather wistful, but in fact it is quite an aggressive performance. Times, Sunday Times
Now he makes me feel wistful. Times, Sunday Times
And now here is a book which is mostly poetry, or at least a kind of elegiac wistfulness.
Suddenly the coyness was gone from her voice, replaced by genuine wistfulness.
But he usually mentioned Italy when speaking wistfully of a new start across the pond.
The result is a beguiling and wistful study of displaced people that conveys the paradoxical loneliness and richness of cosmopolitan life. Times, Sunday Times
Christian should reluctantly give up, one by one, the pleasures of the world; and look back upon them, when relinquished, with eyes of wistfulness and regret: because he knows not the sweetness of the delights with which true Christianity repays those trifling sacrifices, and is greatly unacquainted with the _nature_ of that pleasantness which is to be found in the ways of Religion. A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.
With a wistful sigh Bakul picked up his large quakehammer, which had belonged to his father, and began trudging up the sandy slope towards the surface world.
Perhaps he was just feeling idle, relaxed and de-stressed - like everyone else who makes it to this most wistful and romantic of outliers.
These were sweet, melodic songs tinged with a wistful melancholy that your nan could whistle while doing the ironing. The Sun
I can't help feeling slightly wistful about the perks I'm giving up.
He sounds wistful for a time when actors died penniless. Times, Sunday Times
The dictionary defines nostalgia as 'a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past '. Times, Sunday Times
What had been a wistful idea in Roselli's mind now sprung full-blown. CORMORANT
It is also slightly wistful. Times, Sunday Times
For a moment he looks wistful. Times, Sunday Times
Neither straight comedy nor thoroughgoing drama, it's a dreamy, wistful mood piece with only the wisp of a plot.
The 1970s continued some of these tones to begin with, but as the decade progressed these moved toward earthier and softer more wistful tones such as aubergine and rust.
His low voice muttered wistfully looking further down the path and seeing the wall that encased the palace like a boa and it's prey.
It is the latter, the Teutonic, that is in the minor key, and full of wistful sadness. The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19
The statue has a gentleness, an ambience, a wistful elegance.
He speaks wistfully of the hard-wearing fabrics of yesteryear - linsey-woolsey and gabardine. Times, Sunday Times
The contentment and happiness of love is always to be longed for or wistfully remembered.
The result is a beguiling and wistful study of displaced people that conveys the paradoxical loneliness and richness of cosmopolitan life. Times, Sunday Times
Conversations on a Homecoming is an achingly sad, wistful work about unfulfilled potential. Times, Sunday Times
His tone is full but flexible, sustained but lyrical, and he manages to impart a certain wistfulness to even the jolliest rondos, such as the E flat one that Flanders and Swann memorably set to words. Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos 1-4 – review
No matter how wistfully we may long for the fountain of youth, the fact is that Laws of Thermodynamics are irrefutable.
I hate these modern synthetics, but a lovely old-fashioned smelly gluepot was a wistful dream in these crummy circumstances. The Vatican Rip
He held in a wistful sigh and smiled warmly when her eyes flicked up in the mirror, meeting his.
She chuckled lightly and exhaled a sigh caught somewhere in between wistful and dreamy.
And I would depicture her, a foiled and wistful little wraith, very lonely in eternity, and a bit regretful of the world she loved and of its blundering men, and unhappy, -- for she could never be entirely happy without Peter, -- and I feared, indignant. The Cords of Vanity A Comedy of Shirking
-- Emily Flynn VencatCopenhagen: Madeleines MadteaterThe "madeleine" comes from the little cake Marcel Proust wistfully described in "Remembrance of Things Past. The Good Life
Prince William, 10, chewed his lip anxiously while eight-year-old Harry stared wistfully ahead, dreaming of Christmases past.
The opening triumvirate is as strong as any string of songs he's written, and the wistful finality of the sweetly cathartic title track foreshadows a disappointing comedown.
“To live like a gamecock, that is my target,” he said in a wistful voice. Cold Mountain
The grey, wistful eyes stared past his shoulder at the oil painting on the wall behind him, dimmed with age a little, but still showing clearly the golden-haired woman in her pale-pink lace gown, crinolined with a hundred and seven flounces. The Thorn Birds
Mir looked wistful and was unusually quiet. KANDAHAR COCKNEY: A Tale of Two Worlds
The band starts off sounding motoric, motorised, programmed, but later on the feeling gets more ethereal, dreamy and wistful.
The consequence, as malariologist Lewis Hackett 1884-1962 wistfully wrote in the 1930s, is that malaria is so moulded and altered by local conditions that it becomes a thousand different diseases and epidemiological puzzles. Scourge of Humankind
Vivienne's smile turned wistful and she turned to snap a picture of sunlight filtering through the leaves of a banana tree.
Her expression instantly changed, from a look of wistful remembrance to burning dislike.
They looked wistful and impressed. Times, Sunday Times
He came up with a very beautiful, odd, staccato kind of arpeggio thing, melting into a wistful resolve. Rebecca Pidgeon: Huff Post Exclusive Music Download
Poor Puttel, after gazing wistfully out of the window at the gaunt city cats skulking about the yard, would retire to the rug, and curl herself up as if all hope of finding congenial society had failed; while little Nick would sing till he vibrated on his perch, without receiving any response except an inquisitive chirp from the pert sparrows, who seemed to twit him with his captivity. An Old-Fashioned Girl
She seems quiet and reserved, carefully fingering the showy flowers with a wistful air of abstraction, lost in her own thoughts.
He is at his best in the many lyrical sections of the piece, which include most of the outer movements as well as the wistful trio of the middle scherzo movement.
All four wistful and melodic tracks document yearning and loss with an almost angelic intervention.
'That's the house where I was born,' she said wistfully.
In this charming and wistful novel about a family in disintegration, a young girl discovers to her distress that she can taste the emotions of those who prepare what she eats. New Fiction
Aye, that was it - and it was romantic, too, the departing warrior tupping up the girl he was going to leave behind, and she full of love and wistful longing and be-damned. The Sky Writer
And yes, definitely the homesickness is stronger in the fall -- at least for me -- partly because my brother has an apple orchard and the season is starting to kick in and I just think wistfully about being able to walk out and pick apples. September evenings with roasted chicken
Even so, she had never stopped wistfully daydreaming about what could have been, of the life she could have lived on Lothos.
Wistful, peaceful, tonally rich, the music is perfect calming therapy.
Bernie fingered a sable goatee wistfully, then turned back to the budget beards.
Gilmour recalls wistfully glancing at the hotel spa pool upon retiring.
I'd intended to be mature and sedate and demure and just wistfully watch the young guests from afar.
Wilson is a natural orator, and the finest passages in the book are elegiac songs of life and wistful recollections of lost habitats, extinct flora and fauna.
He speaks wistfully of the hard-wearing fabrics of yesteryear - linsey-woolsey and gabardine. Times, Sunday Times
She looks a bit wistful. Times, Sunday Times
Hye-Youn Lee's Lisette scurried pertly, her sweet, clear soprano full of character and a good complement to the warmth and wistfulness of Kate Ladner's Magda – the swallow of the title, who flies from true love for guilty memory. Tosca; La rondine; Arensky Chamber Orchestra – review
An oversized gnome, he looms over garden ponds, stares wistfully up at bedroom windows.
And while he tried to stage a graceful exit from the presidential race, there remained an abiding sense of wistfulness.
She gazed back at the couple in her rear view mirror, a wistful, longing expression in her blue-green eyes.
A robin was singing its thready, wistful, autumn song from the collapsed pergola halfway down the garden. HIDING FROM THE LIGHT
She waves a wistful goodbye to him and blows him a kiss.
‘I noticed that I'm being asked more and more to go to homages for my dear friends, who are now departed,’ she says wistfully.
Faced with their example, I have often felt both envious and wistful. Tuning the Rig: A Journey to the Arctic
his sister would have looked beautiful in that dress, he thought wistfully, just like an angel
In fact, the inversion of these intervals forms the basis of the entire accompaniment for Wistful Memories, and the bluesy Swingetude is based almost exclusively on these intervals.
At this MPs looked quite wistful. Times, Sunday Times
I'd intended to be mature and sedate and demure and just wistfully watch the young guests from afar.
And all the while the dog sat and watched him, a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes, for it looked upon him as the fire-provider, and the fire was slow in coming. To Build A Fire
What distinguishes Harcourt from his contemporaries is the way he laces his stories with wistful charm and surreal humour.
I'm really a sad, wistful food fantasist. Times, Sunday Times
He'd wistfully recalled the time when he'd felt brotherly love for him.
They ran through emotions from funny, romantic and sad, to witty, wistful and thought-provoking.
The sax held the final fermata, a wistful confession. Chameleon
Two lovers embrace on the Nydegg Bridge , gaze wistfully into the river below.
Ay, but such things as that be alonely for folk as can pay for 'em, I reckon," said Kate, looking wistfully, first at the blue ear-rings, and then at the blessed relic. The White Lady of Hazelwood A Tale of the Fourteenth Century
Never has bibliomania been written in such a wistful way. Books. Matter. Stories. Matter. (Or: How a Book Made Me Cry After Six Pages) « BAHAY TALINHAGA
Most of us have an instinctive desire for goodness, but it is wistful and vague rather than sharp and intense. Christianity Today
As I scraped applesauce and cream of eel from countless plates I felt wistful.
Its coals fade to black shortly after it starts, but then a scratchy calliope whirs to life, taking it out on a wistful, black and white note.
There's something wistfully pinheaded about deliberative democracy - it sounds a lot like law school.
Chicago quartet L' Altra make music for rainy Sundays: gentle, gauzy and not a little wistful.
But having been in the training squad until August, there is a slightly wistful air about him. Times, Sunday Times
I used my time back on campus to catch up with my old lecturers (those who still had jobs) and to walk wistfully around my old haunts.
Still, he speculated wistfully that his newfound cheerfulness was not his authentic self, which he described as brooding and creative. NYT > Home Page
Faced with their example, I have often felt both envious and wistful. Tuning the Rig: A Journey to the Arctic
Often the stuff that becomes nostalgia is not the hits, '' points out Bob Thompson, a pop culture prof at Syracuse University, who considers" cheesiness "a crucial ingredient for wistful reflection. Thestar.com - Home Page
‘Mother’ dispels the pall with a burst of wistfully playful pop, while ‘For Sheriff Allison’ trades in affected age for unstrained, deceptively simple folk.
And now here is a book which is mostly poetry, or at least a kind of elegiac wistfulness.
It stands in that wistfully earnest doggy way that you see them doing as they wait on the footpath outside the fish and chip shop.
But how much more on a winter night, when the moon is away below the sea, and weary waters roll unseen from a vast profundity of gloom, fall unreckoned, and are no more than a wistful moan, as man is! Springhaven
On the instant, she had turned from aggressive bluestocking to wistful orphan. STAGE FRIGHT
The dictionary defines nostalgia as 'a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past '. Times, Sunday Times
Enough with staring wistfully at those better tressed than you.
He looked up at the sky with a wistful expression, a gust slightly lifting up his long hair, and sighed.
The wistful elegiac moods of the Sonnets, were conveyed with just the right balance of outward expression and gesture, and delicate tonal control.
For an instant he was back in his native France, and a wistful, sad-eyed face came as a mist between him and the woman before him. THE PRIESTLY PREROGATIVE
His pause was almost wistful, and he looked at her and studied her with a caressing softness that ran through her in resurgent thrills. CHAPTER XI
Later on, as she was making dinner, she paused mid-stir with the wooden spatula deep into the Quorn mince and looked wistfully skywards.
On the odd occasion that he's had a few to drink, I think he brings out the red suit and talks wistfully about his sleigh.
Effervescent, lyrical, plangent, wistful by turns, this score surrounds the immortal hit "Le Tourbillon de La Vie" (The Whirlwind of Life), which Ms. Moreau and the composer Bassiak (playing her lover in the movie) made into a world-wide hit, although it had been written seven years earlier. For the Love of a Fickle Woman
The delectable little Dutch songs with which she used to dulcify the house grew less and less frequent, and she would forget her sewing and look wistfully in her father's face as he sat pondering by the fire side. Tales of a Traveller
It has a wistful quality, a longing for a world gone never to return, which an author of Sampson's vintage can and should be excused.
But if you looked up, you would sometimes see her watching you with a shy, wistful smile. Times, Sunday Times
Two lovers embrace on the Nydegg Bridge , gaze wistfully into the river below.
As I contemplate the achievements of Hong Kong University, I am filled with deep admiration and also, it has to be admitted, with wistfulness.
Gregory felt a chill run up his spine at the wistful, dreamy tone of her voice.
Wistful in his evasions, Jesse leaves the answer to their imaginings, and then looks up to catch a glimpse of Céline through the bookstore window.
Despite the demurrals of wistful theocrats, separation of church and state is an even better idea today than it was in 1791, when the First Amendment was duly ratified.
the sensitive and wistful response of a poet to the gentler phases of beauty
When the mood does lift, it does nothing to tarnish the wistful sadness of the record.
Rusty Rhea sighs wistfully as he talks about the beauty and peace of standing amid a grove of deep green hemlocks in Appalachia, some of them up to 160 feet tall and more than 500 years old.
I thought about those days in Spain and grew wistful.
It still grieves me,’ she added with a wistful sigh, ‘but I recognize defeat when I see it.’
I'm not sad about it. Maybe a little wistful , I guess.
He looks a touch wistful and I wonder if something else is bothering him? Times, Sunday Times
The sound of the record itself is an intricate balance between breezy pop and wistful balladry, which isn't unusual for Great Lake Swimmers in one sense, but there's certainly more of a lush push behind songs like "Palmistry" and the recent R3-add, CBC Radio 3
Woven through several two- to six-minute selections (ideal for downloading from iTunes, yet cherished by violin fans) is the theme of night in multiple manifestations: The title track, a song by Claude Debussy; "Nocturne," by the ill-fated Lili Boulanger, who died at the age of 24; moonlight (Debussy's beloved "Clair de lune"); and dreams (Gabriel Fauré's wistful "Après un rêve," which Ms. Jansen plays with tender yearning). Busy Violinist Seeks Balance
She wished wistfully for a warm summer on a Californian beach where her skin burned as easily as toast and time seemed to stand still.
He spoke wistfully of the war when his father was able to run out between air raids and plunder unexploded bombs.
The dogs got nothing, though they watched with wistful mien from a distance, sitting up in the snow, their tails curled around their paws. Chapter IV
It's a beguiling and rather wistful little film that makes effective use of the mercurial light of the lagoon. Times, Sunday Times
Tin became wistful and in a surge of nostalgia offered to show me round.
I am rich in the only scale that counts and whilst I may be feeling a tiny bit wistful or dare I say it hurt or jealous or some other unnameable emotion it is fleeting and I know with certainty that I am the luckiest lady in the world…
And into my face I strove to throw all the wan wistfulness of famished and ingenuous youth of mendicancy. Confession
When he is done rambling, a wistful expression comes to him and his eyes moisten over.
A great many of us don't feel wistful or rueful about our earlier physical selves. Times, Sunday Times
'Do you mean,' she said, looking up at him rather wistfully now, 'that I am _always_ what you call extravagant?' The Gold of Chickaree
She gazes toward, but beyond the viewer with a slightly wan and wistful smile, as though she has a secret somewhere deep inside.
I didn't want to appear surly, but a word had to be honed mighty thin to slip in edgewise, so I concentrated on the tea, cucumber sandwiches, and seedcake, suppressing wistful thoughts about a pub. Operation Luna
But he took his hand away, and she thought she saw his eyes shadow a bit with a hint of wistfulness.
Here, indeed, we have ‘matter for solace and pleasure’ as music's numinous beauty is set against the narrator's loss of youth and love to create an atmosphere of wistful nostalgia.
As we erected the tent Tony became wistful again.
The last series will probably end with Anakin loosing his temper a little, realizing that he * might possibly* end up in a bad way, and the troop looking wistfully into space before they launch for the beginning of ROTS. LucasFilm teams with Robot Chicken Duo to Develop Star Wars Animated Sitcom | /Film
He composed wistful passages about “the plump turgescence of youth,” and in pears found the “soft rapture of attainment.” The Fruit Hunters
How did your own experience inform the stories that focus on Emma, the little girl in "The Summer Kitchen," who successfully overcomes cancer but wistfully idealizes her life before cancer? A conversation with Alice Hoffman
There was a wistful, daydreaming quality to Pete's voice that lulled me almost to sleep as we rode.
The songs, from wistful sea shanties to lusty drinking anthems and yearning rhapsodies, are atmospheric. Times, Sunday Times
Pictures of long-dead lords and ladies who wanted to be remembered for wearing lots of silk and looking wistful next to a window. Times, Sunday Times
The moon's ashine; by many a lane Walk wistful lovers to and fro; It must be like old days again; How they do love!
Ford's writing is never more his signature than when he combines a wistful, elegiac feeling of loss with an indomitable instinct to carry on.
On that occasion, a lady, both wistfully and bibulously, asks: ‘What I say is, where did we all take the wrong turn?’
Like the majority of his breed, Corker (for such was his name) had ever been wistful to be noticed by any one -- effusively grateful for every word or pat, an ever-ready wagger and nuzzler, to none ineffable. Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story
I'd intended to be mature and sedate and demure and just wistfully watch the young guests from afar.
It was the bright little face and wistful eyes that clinched it. Times, Sunday Times
She is wistful and pleased as she reviews past events.
When Johnny talked about midgets, his expression turned wistful, like he wished he could go backward in time. Miracles, Inc.
Where the villain's music has the kind of brassy, descending notes that signal cunning evil, Wells is given an almost wistful flute - music that suggests a meek, buttoned-up Victorian. Undefined
There seems to me to be too much of the blown lock and the wistful glance, too much of the attitudinized poet, lacking, I may even say, in true refinement, often. Adventures in the Arts Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and Poets
You'll die in the middle of the ocean," Cosby crooned wistfully, "and it will wash out your underpants. Former sailor Bill Cosby made an honorary CPO by the Navy -- a great crowd to test out new jokes
The look on his face is, by now, nearly wistful; the smile almost bittersweet.
From where I sit on the hallway window ledge, I wistfully watch Nikolai Gromov putting on his jacket and boots in the coatroom. A Mountain of Crumbs
We told old stories, sure, but it was not merely wistful reminiscence.
Then the old man said wistfully, "Wud ye no 'like to see where I was born mesel? Why Paint in Wartime?
This part of the song comes out as something of a wistful ballad, but more interesting than most.
I could see him going back in time and a small, wistful smile curled up on his lips.
The result is a wild, ungoverned book, full of surreal inversions and wistful comedy, the source of countless pleasures. Times, Sunday Times

How To Use Wistful In A Sentence

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