希望
Meaning in Englishhope, wish, aspiration
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
What does 希望 mean? It denotes a feeling of wanting something to happen or a desired outcome—the sense of hope or aspiration. Used for personal wishes, goals for the future, or collective aims, and it can function as a noun or be used with 希望する to convey 'to hope' or 'to wish for'.
Main meanings
- Core sense: a feeling of wanting a future event or outcome to occur; a hopeful mindset.
- In organizational or policy contexts, it refers to stated aims or desired goals.
- As a verb phrase via 希望する, it expresses the act of hoping or wishing for something to happen.
How to use it
Used as a formal noun in writing and speech to express a hoped-for outcome, or as the basis for 希望する when describing the act of hoping. In casual conversation, people may prefer more everyday terms like 願う or 望み; phrases with に or の plus the noun often indicate what is hoped for.
Variants and close terms
- 願望 (ganbō) — desire or wish; a slightly stronger or more formal nuance than hope.
- 望み (nozomi) — hope or expectation; more colloquial than 希望 in some contexts.
- 願い (negai) — a simple wish or plea; common in everyday speech.
- Antonym: 絶望 (zetsubou) — despair.
Composition
- 希 — conveys desire or longing; associated with rarity and aspiration.
- 望 — means to look forward, to hope, or to desire; conveys forward-looking intention.
Origin
The term appears in classical Japanese literature and Buddhist thought; the compound 希望 has long been used in both personal and public discourse and remains common in modern Japanese.
Word class
noun (名詞)