English Reference
Idiom idiom

I wish


Used to express the speaker's wish that the preceding statement were true

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

I wish I had more time to relax.

CONTEXTUAL

I wish I could speak another language fluently, but I have not practiced enough yet.

COMPLEX

He looked at the empty train station and sighed, wishing he had arrived earlier, though he knew the last train had already departed.


Related idioms1entry
  1. 01

    you wish

    Used to express the speaker's skepticism about a preceding statement concerning some desired or assumed state of affairs.

Last updated August 10, 2026