variants
also wannabee
as in follower
a person who adopts the appearance or behavior of another especially in an obvious way
an entrepreneur who seems to have made his fortune mainly by giving how-to-get-rich lectures to entrepreneurial wannabes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wannabe
Young courtesan wannabe Gigi (Leslie Caron) and Parisian playboy Gaston (Louis Jourdan) see each other as just friends, until romance intercedes in the musical confection.
—
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026
Plenty of Kennedy wannabes showed up too late to compete, like brothers Denny and Enny—models, actors, and content creators who are originally from Montenegro and now live in Williamsburg.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 9 Mar. 2026
From the dealmakers in the Polo Lounge to the celebs hiding away in the spacious bungalows, all manner of tastemakers and wannabes have stopped by the Pink Palace at some time or another.
—Tim Chester, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2026
The Dodgers’ split-squad group that journeyed the 14 miles from Glendale (and ultimately lost to Texas, 7-6) was largely a skeleton crew of Triple-A bound prospects and wannabes.
—Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wannabe
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026
Plenty of Kennedy wannabes showed up too late to compete, like brothers Denny and Enny—models, actors, and content creators who are originally from Montenegro and now live in Williamsburg.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 9 Mar. 2026
From the dealmakers in the Polo Lounge to the celebs hiding away in the spacious bungalows, all manner of tastemakers and wannabes have stopped by the Pink Palace at some time or another.
—Tim Chester, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2026
The Dodgers’ split-squad group that journeyed the 14 miles from Glendale (and ultimately lost to Texas, 7-6) was largely a skeleton crew of Triple-A bound prospects and wannabes.
—Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wannabe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wannabe
Noun
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Artists affiliated with the Wide Awakes have adopted the original group’s open-eye iconography to symbolize the new wave of followers’ social awakening.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Apr. 2026
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Streamers may have a variety of sources of income, including sponsorship, donations from followers, affiliate links, selling merchandise, and tournament winnings.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Baseball is a copycat league, and success breeds imitators.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2026
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In Karp’s telling, Basquiat is someone who Just Did Things, like today’s defense tech founders, who possess a similar kind of creative conviction, as opposed to the consumer tech imitators of yesteryear.—
Simon Denny,
Artforum,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Detecting chemical radicals The testing showed that MoQNs maintain full quantum functionality in the cellular environment, performing complex tasks such as spin-echo measurements and relaxometry.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Apr. 2026
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Because what Wilson created with Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is a house of shadows and echoes.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wannabe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wannabe. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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