Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1900-2000
Origin: want to be

wannabe

 noun
     
wan‧na‧be [countable]
informal someone who tries to look or behave like someone famous or like a particular type of successful person, because they want to be like them - usually used to show disapproval [↪ would-be]:
A load of Michael Schumacher wannabes trying to show what they can do on the track.
wannabe pop stars
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary