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Synonyms

would-be

American  
[wood-bee] / ˈwʊdˌbi /

adjective

  1. wishing or pretending to be.

    a would-be wit.

  2. intended to be.

    a would-be kindness.

noun

  1. a person who wishes or pretends to be something.

    Opera singers and would-bes should practice at least four hours a day.
would-be British  

adjective

  1. derogatory wanting or professing to be

    a would-be politician

  2. intended to be

    would-be generosity
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. derogatory a person who wants or professes to be something that he is not

  2. the person to whom one is is engaged to be married; fiancé or fiancée

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of would-be

1250–1300; Middle English (adj.)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Two days before Sarah North was about to move into her London Bridge flat, her would-be landlord told her his father had died and she would now have to find somewhere else to live.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Sydney had been raised by an eccentric Edwardian publisher and would-be Conservative political thinker, Thomas Bowles.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Hurt made her film debut in Woody Allen’s 1978 drama, “Interiors,” where she portrayed the directionless would-be artist Joey opposite her more successful siblings Renata and Flyn, played by Diane Keaton and Kristin Griffith, respectively.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Their first meeting in a coffee shop drew five people — the number Indivisible suggests a would-be organizer initially aim to marshal.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

“I’m off to fetch some porridge for supper, if any of you would-be mutineers would like to join me.”

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.