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
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Recent Examples of wannabe
Traveling together through middle America, the constantly-bickering duo induct a military wannabe, a mentally unstable mom, and a mysterious foreign hitchhiker into their cult.
—
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 25 Oct. 2024
She’s judged wannabes on American Idol; she’s headlined the Super Bowl halftime show; she’s celebrated a king’s coronation.
—Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2024
Not the venture capitalists who sank billions into EV wannabes in a flight of post-rational exuberance.
—Mark Phelan, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2024
Like Hughes and every other 20-something, male wannabe in Nashville, Sadler had a prodigious mullet.
—Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wannabe 
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 25 Oct. 2024
She’s judged wannabes on American Idol; she’s headlined the Super Bowl halftime show; she’s celebrated a king’s coronation.
—Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2024
Not the venture capitalists who sank billions into EV wannabes in a flight of post-rational exuberance.
—Mark Phelan, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2024
Like Hughes and every other 20-something, male wannabe in Nashville, Sadler had a prodigious mullet.
—Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wannabe
Thesaurus Entries Near wannabe
Cite this Entry
“Wannabe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wannabe. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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