Word family noun hope hopefulness ≠ hopelessness hopeful adjective hopeful ≠ hopeless verb hope adverb hopefully ≠ hopelessly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhopefulhope‧ful1 /ˈhəʊpfəl $ ˈhoʊp-/ ●●○ adjective 1 HOPEbelieving that what you hope for is likely to happen SYN optimistichopeful about Everyone’s feeling pretty hopeful about the future.hopeful (that) I’m hopeful that we can find a solution.be hopeful of (doing) something British English He is still hopeful of playing in Saturday’s game.2 PROBABLYmaking you feel that what you hope for is likely to happen SYN promising The vote is a hopeful sign that attitudes in the church are changing. Things might get better, but it doesn’t look very hopeful right now. —hopefulness noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
hopeful• At the interview they told me I was "the right sort of person'. I thought that sounded kind of hopeful.• We don't know if Gascoigne will be fit to play in Saturday's game, but we're all hopeful.• James felt more hopeful about his future after his chat with his professor.• At present it seems likely that the most hopeful approaches rest in three areas.• Despite such findings, research still largely bears out the hopeful assumptions that have guided practitioners like Abed and Yunus.• At best it might produce recommendations for new and hopeful initiatives.• The peace talks concluded on a hopeful note.• The local police are hopeful of catching those responsible for the graffiti.• The fact that the two sides have agreed to hold negotiations is an extremely hopeful sign.• Todd broke into a hopeful smile every time the phone rang.• A faint but more hopeful splutter, this time.• I'm quite hopeful that I'll get the job.• At other times, his statements undermined such hopeful words.hopeful about• Lakeisha is hopeful about the future.hopeful sign• But they remain merely hopeful signs.• On one hand, the resumption of talks and the discussion of safe passage to another nation are hopeful signs.• On Thursday, there were some hopeful signs.• Still, there are some hopeful signs.• The veterans event was a hopeful sign.• The introduction of girls into cathedral choirs and the continuing vitality of choir schools are also hopeful signs for the future.• One hopeful sign for the success of the peace talks is the military deadlock.• There were hopeful signs from one recalcitrant state.hopefulhopeful2 noun [countable] written HOPEsomeone who is hoping to be successful, especially in acting, sports, politics etc Thousands of young hopefuls were auditioned for the role. Republican presidential hopefulsExamples from the Corpus
hopeful• Another hopeful says the late Mr Brown appeared to him in a dream and told him to run.• A whitewash victory for the young army hopefuls.• To date, seven city council hopefuls have requested money, with more expected to qualify.• For the province's future Olympic hopefuls have been brushing up on skills both on and off the sports fields.• a presidential hopeful• The party has broken ranks, with five of its nine presidential hopefuls calling for a review of the revisions.• On Saturday night, the 476 convention delegates will question Republican presidential hopefuls.• Every four years, presidential hopefuls have learned, the New Hampshire mouse roars like lion.• Nicholson was now venturing into the haunts of the hopefuls and joined in.young hopefuls• Every reasonably successful band soon begins to receive demo tapes from young hopefuls.• Esme gave piano lessons to a score or more of young hopefuls.• Thousands of young hopefuls were interviewed but none possessed the elusive qualities Selznick sought.• For some young hopefuls the promise of stardom and success outweighs the fear of failure.• In the United States young hopefuls are facing similar problems in getting flying jobs with the airlines.• Perhaps Madonna should have a chat about the pop ethics with these young hopefuls.• Things are so bad that a special course has been set up to train young hopefuls, and maybe reverse the trend. 