noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈwɒnəbi/
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:W AA1 N AH0 B IY2
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Someone who wishes to be someone or do something, but lacks the qualifications or talent; an overeager amateur; an aspirant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: attributive, derogatory, informal, often
Examples
Hollywood's restaurants are full of wannabe actors waiting to be discovered.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Someone who wishes to be part of, or to assimilate to, a majority group of which they are not a member.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: derogatory, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
an ambitious and aspiring young person
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a lofty aspirant
two executive hopefuls joined the firm
the audience was full of Madonna wannabes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: aspirant, aspirer, hopeful, wannabee
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: applicant, applier
History
Etymology
Written form of a reduction of want to be, analyzable 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.
Across languages
Translations
22 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Czech:
rádoby
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Dutch:
wannabe
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Finnish:
matkija
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
French:
wannabe
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
German:
Möchtegern
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Hungarian:
önjelölt
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Japanese:
ワナビー
(wanabī)
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Japanese:
ワナビ
(wanabi)
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Japanese:
もどき
(modoki)
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Norwegian:
wannabe
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Polish:
pozer
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Polish:
pozerka
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Portuguese:
metido (a)
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
un quiero y no puedo
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
aspirante
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
wanabi
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
wannabi
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
aparentador
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
guanabí
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Spanish:
pseudo-
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Swedish:
wannabe
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
Turkish:
özenti
— someone who wishes to be like someone, but lacks the qualifications
