wannabee


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wan·na·be

also wan·na·bee  (wŏn′ə-bē′, wôn′-)Informal
n.
1. One who aspires to a role or position.
2. One who imitates the behavior, customs, or dress of an admired person or group.
3. A product designed to imitate the qualities or characteristics of something.
adj.
Wishing or aspiring to be; would-be.

[Alteration of want to be.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.wannabee - an ambitious and aspiring young personwannabee - an ambitious and aspiring young person; "a lofty aspirant"; "two executive hopefuls joined the firm"; "the audience was full of Madonna wannabes"
applicant, applier - a person who requests or seeks something such as assistance or employment or admission
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
Wannabee Rudolphs of all ages can register online and will be sent a personalised T-shirt as well as a set of antlers and a flashing nose to help them see in the dark as they run, walk or skip the route around the village, starting at 7pm on Merthyr Road.
Maybe I'll wait until eBay is packed with Sports Direct kit being sold cheap by wannabee athletes who have fallen by the wayside and buy myself a neat little figure-hugging outfit in blue Spandex.
Poet Laureate is selected (not voted in) by the one-percenter wannabee Librarian Billington, who flies first-class, sleeps in $1,000/night hotels, sets chauffeured, and schmoozes with his one-percenter James Madison Council.
Music Walter Crockett and the WannaBee Wabbits, 6:30 p.m.
But the group has to be whittled down further, and just 20 wannabee Dorothies can make it to the next stage.
FOLLOWING Tory MP wannabee Anne-Marie Trevelyan's letter suggesting that if Sir Alan Beith was elected Speaker, he would not be able to serve his constituency properly (Voice of the North, June 20), I wonder if she will now say that the people of Buckingham will be badly served by successful Speaker (and Tory MP) John Bercow?
My new year's hope (rather than resolution) for 2008 is that we finally see the quick but extremely painful death of reality TV along with all its celebrity wannabees (and wannabee wannabees).
Front-running Republican presidential nominee wannabee Rudy Giuliani has cited his love for Israel and the Jewish roots of Christianity in appealing to evangelical Christians.
The Food Critic/Sommelier Wannabee is another story.
This often happens as "wannabee" CEOs leave the nest, so don't be shocked.
That's what this country is all about," said lawyer Jackie Chiles, playing his role as a Johnny Cochran wannabee.
Women's affairs are epitomized by the film's largest musical number, "Straight and Nappy." Suddenly, Wannabee and Jigaboo women are transported to a mod-colored Madame Res-Res's Hair Salon to have it out.