Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - hopeful

~1 adj 1 believing that what you hope for is likely to happen + abou  (Everyone's feeling pretty hopeful about the future.) hopeful that  (We're hopeful that the team will be fit for next Saturday's game. | be hopeful of doing sth BrE)  (The police are hopeful of finding more clues to the murder.) 2 informal making you feel that what you hope for is likely to happen  (Things might get better, but it doesn't look very hopeful right now.) - hopefulness n ~2 n someone who is hoping to be successful, especially in acting, music etc  (young hopefuls)  (hundreds of young hopefuls waiting to be auditioned)