wannabe

Etymology

It is formed from English wanna + be,^[2][3] representing the casual pronunciation of the phrase “want to be”.^{[4][5][6][7][8][3]} The first element itself stands for a colloquial pronunciation of “want to”, with the dental lost by assimilation, and is recorded by 1896.^[2][4] The OED compares the older would-be.^[2] According to Green's Dictionary of Slang, the word was first American Black usage for a fantasist, later for a white person wishing to be Black, and in surfing jargon a learner;^[9] Etymonline calls it originally surfer slang.^[4] The Oxford Dictionary of New Words links it to the 1960s song “I Wan'na Be Like You”.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who tries to imitate someone else or to fit in with a group: 1976, in the magazine New York.^[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang has wannabes in 1979, for people who always wanted to be officials, and a 1909 forerunner, Want-to-Bes,^[9] while Merriam-Webster and Etymonline date the word to 1981^[8][4] and Dictionary.com to 1980–85.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the mid 1980s the noun was used of white youths in the United States who dressed and behaved like members of Black gangs.^[10] It spread widely about 1984 through its use for the female fans of Madonna, who copied her style of dress and make-up.^[4][10][9] It soon came to mean anyone who aspires to be someone or something else,^[10][8] and also a product made to rival a successful one, often a pale imitation.^[8][5][2] The adjective, aspiring or would-be, appeared in the second half of the 1980s: 1985 in Green's Dictionary of Slang, 1986 in the OED.^[10][9][2]

Timeline

• 1976 – noun, a person who imitates someone else, especially a celebrity.^[2]
• c. 1984 – used of the fans of Madonna.^[4]
• 1985 – adjective, aspiring, would-be.^[9] The OED's first example is from 1986.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (informal) A person who wants to be someone or something else, or who copies the looks and behaviour of an admired person or group: The club was full of rock-star wannabes.^[8][5][6][2]
2. Something, such as a product or a city, meant to rival a successful one of its kind, often a poor imitation.^[8][5][2]

Adjective

1. (informal) Aspiring; would-be: a wannabe novelist.^[5][6][2][9]

Related words

• wanna
• want
• would-be

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b c d e Knowles, Elizabeth; Elliott, Julia, eds. (1997), The Oxford Dictionary of New Words, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House