would-be

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English

Pronunciation

Adjective

would-be (not comparable)

  1. Attempting or desiring something.
    Would-be marines have to get through a rigorous examination.
    • 1951 February, “Notes and News: Lynton & Barnstaple Remains”, in Railway Magazine, page 136:
      Pilton Yard, the Lynton & Barnstaple headquarters, has been taken over by a fur trading firm, and would-be trespassers to the old engine-shed are turned back by the pungent odour of heaps of carcases.
    • 2019 May 9, Edward Helmore, “Anna Sorokin: fake German heiress sentenced to up to 12 years in prison”, in The Guardian‎:
      Sorokin, a would-be art collector, planned to open a members-only arts club but became known as the “Soho grifter” after her deception upon New York’s glitzy social scene came to light.
  2. Unfulfilled; frustrated in realizing a goal, ambition, etc.
    Would-be film stars often become waitresses.
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented , volume I, London: James R Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., , →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 27:
      It was not till the rays of the sun had absorbed the young stranger's retreating figure on the hill that she shook off her temporary sadness and answered her would-be partner in the affirmative.
    • 1945 Sept, Richard S. Shaver, Science Fiction Adventure Classics, published 1972, page 26, column 1:
      he envy of all the would-be beautiful of the Nor empire.
    • 2024 July 21, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Maggie Haberman, “Secret Service Says It Denied Earlier Trump Requests for More Federal Resources”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      The Secret Service had already been barraged with questions over why it had excluded from its security zone the warehouse — about 450 feet from the former president — from which the would-be assassin had fired at Mr. Trump on July 13.

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Translations

Noun

would-be (plural would-bes)

  1. One who aspires to something.
    Synonym: wannabe
    • 1912, Elbert Hubbard, Hollyhocks and Goldenglow:
      The would-bes are very sure that the managers have it in for them; just as most young writers regard publishers as being in conspiracy against budding genius.
  2. (India) One's fiancé or fiancée.
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