hope
(verb, noun)
past tense: hoped
LISTEN
"I hope this grows into a huge tree."
Before we introduce today’s word, we want to thank you for your submissions to our short story contest. We were going to announce the winner today, but we only received a few stories for our Basic+ competition this year, and the English level of those entries (an “entry” is a submission to a contest) was so high that it made more sense to judge them with the Intermediate+ competition stories. Therefore, we will be awarding extra runner-up prizes in the Intermediate+ competition instead, and publishing the winner and the first runner-up story! You can read those stories on our Intermediate+ page. Thanks to everyone for your participation! And now for today’s word…
Hope means ‘to look forward to with desire and confidence.’
- Elise hopes that it doesn't rain on her wedding day.
- Randall hopes to win the race.
Hope is a feeling that things will turn out well.
- Leigh's hope is that her daughter will be happy at her new job.
Something that makes you feel this feeling is also hope.
- Jane's suggestion is our best hope for a solution.
- The new medication is Phil's last hope for recovery.
Common uses
hope against hope: to continue to hope when a situation seems very bad. Example: “They hoped against hope that the crash victims would survive.”
Related words
hopefully: in a hopeful manner. Example: “Hopefully the war will end soon.”
In pop culture
Sing along with Paul McCartney as he sings “Hope of Deliverance.”
There are other meanings of hope.
Word of the Day is released Monday through Friday.
