wannabe

Definition

Someone who wishes to be someone or do something, but lacks the qualifications or talent; an overeager amateur; an aspirant.

Etymology

Written form of a reduction of want to be, analysable as wanna + be. Wannabe can be considered a conversion, category change, or functional shift. While occasionally appearing in print, usually as a less reduced phrase, the popularity of the word took off in the mid-1980s following the Madonna wannabe fashion trend: “wannabe”, in Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Example Sentences

• "Hollywood's restaurants are full of wannabe actors waiting to be discovered."
• "Most of the people Hiro knows are will-bes or wannabes."
• "Who the hell is that woman messing in my files? GET HER OUT OF HERE! I won't have my system messed up by some wannabe "expert" who'll be gone next week! Damn strangers who think they know it all but don't care about what we're really trying to achieve here."

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