would-be

1. 1.

   unfulfilled or frustrated in realizing an ambition

   Synonymsmanque

   Similarambitious

Questions about would-be

What does would-be mean?

would-be means "unfulfilled or frustrated in realizing an ambition".

How many syllables are in would-be?

would-be has 1 syllable: would-be.

What is another word for would-be?

Close synonyms include manque. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is would-be a common word?

would-be is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.