0 sad and thinking about something that is impossible or in the past:
1 sad and thinking about something that is impossible or past:
I seemed to detect a somewhat wistful look on the benches opposite when he made that remark.
There are almost wistful references to the blood bath which is supposed to come, but does not and will not.
I have a sort of wistful regret that policies of that kind were not fully understood or appreciated in this country at the time.
The undeserved good fortune of others can be borne with a wistful sigh, but their ability to master circumstance and control the course of their lives evokes suspicion and resentment.
Second, an emphasis on ' what might have been ' could too easily become wistful or passive.
But the onward drive drops back for a wistful reverie until the bell-crested orchestra insists again, growing ever more excited under the tumbling, intertwining lines of the soloists.
A particularly important harmony at internal cadences is the dominant ninth, wistful but dispirited after moments of hopeful energy.
Not all the site-specific text is wistful and nostalgic, however.
