From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishI only wish/hopeI only wish/hopespokenHOPEWANT used to express a strong wish or hope ‘What’s happening?’ ‘I only wish I knew.’ → only
Examples from the Corpus
I only wish/hope• It's a great honour and I only hope and pray I won't let Monsieur down.• Exhibit A in defense of the caveman. I only wish Becker had taken questions from the audience.• I am sorry your life is so burdensome, I only wish I could help in some way.• They were all very heartened that some one was at last taking an interest: I only wish I had had a tape recorder!• I only wish I knew what I could do to help.• It will suit Mrs Rochester perfectly. I only wish I were more handsome, as she's so beautiful.• And I only wish the world had a sense of the glamour like we had in the Sixties.• At present I only wish to draw attention to a possible ambiguity in a crucial move.• I enjoyed the whole of the Chuck Berry interview - I only wish we'd had longer. 