wistfulness

Etymology

From wistful + -ness.

wistfulness means the state or characteristic of being wistful. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.

Why “wistfulness” is a great word

WISTFULNESS — [Noun] A state of melancholy or vague, often yearning, pensiveness. From the adjective wistful (meaning 'full of yearning or melancholy thought') + the noun-forming suffix -ness (indicating a state or quality). The adjective 'wistful' is of obscure origin but is presumed to be an alteration of the now-obsolete 'wistly' (meaning 'intently'), which itself may derive from 'whist' (meaning 'silent'). Unlike nostalgia, which is a sentimental longing for a specific past, or sadness, which denotes a broader, more direct unhappiness, wistfulness is a quieter, more ambient mood of bittersweet reflection. It is the scent of rain on hot pavement that carries a memory without a name, the sight of empty train tracks receding into a dusk you are not traveling into, or the particular silence that follows the last note of a familiar song—a tender ache for a possibility that never was, and the quiet grace of its passing.

noun

The state or characteristic of being wistful.“She was no longer the alert, vivacious American beauty who had charmed and delighted all who came in contact with her. Instead she was a very quiet and sad little girl—with an expression of hopeless wistfulness that none but Hazel Strong could interpret.”