Idiom
wishful thinking
Meaning
The formation of beliefs based on an outcome that aligns with one's desires or hopes, while disregarding evidence, rationality, or reality.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Hoping for rain tomorrow is just wishful thinking.”
“He keeps saying he'll quit smoking next month, but it's mostly wishful thinking.”
“Her conviction that the failing company would somehow recover was less optimism than wishful thinking, born of twenty years she could not bear to leave behind.”
Examples
simple
“Hoping for rain tomorrow is just wishful thinking.”
contextual
“He keeps saying he'll quit smoking next month, but it's mostly wishful thinking.”
complex
“Her conviction that the failing company would somehow recover was less optimism than wishful thinking, born of twenty years she could not bear to leave behind.”
Key words
Related idioms
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