| 盼头 | pàn tou | hopes / good prospects |   |
| 标的 | biāo dì | target / aim / objective / what one hopes to gain | |
| 坎坷 | kǎn kě | bumpy (of a road) / rough (of life) / to be down on one's luck / to be full of frustrations and dashed hopes | |
| 万事如意 | wàn shì rú yì | to have all one's wishes (idiom) / best wishes / all the best / may all your hopes be fulfilled | |
| 泡汤 | pào tāng | to dawdle / to go slow deliberately / to fizzle out / to have all one's hopes dashed / (Tw) to have a soak in a hot spring | |
| 厚望 | hòu wàng | great hopes / great expectations | |
| 幻灭 | huàn miè | (of dreams, hopes etc) to vanish / to evaporate / (of a person) to become disillusioned / disillusionment | |
| 寄望 | jì wàng | to place hopes on | |
| 一场空 | yī chǎng kōng | all one's hopes and efforts come to nothing / futile | |
| 一场空 | yī cháng kōng | all one's hopes and efforts come to nothing / futile | |
| 雨过天晴 | yǔ guò tiān qíng | sky clears after rain / new hopes after a disastrous period (idiom) / every cloud has a silver lining (idiom) / see also 雨過天青|雨过天青[yu3 guo4 tian1 qing1] | |
| 望子成龙 | wàng zǐ chéng lóng | lit. to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom) / fig. to long for one' s child to succeed in life / to have great hopes for one's offspring / to give one's child the best education as a career investment | |
| 坎坷不平 | kǎn kě bù píng | potholed and bumpy road (idiom) / fig. full of disappointment and dashed hopes | |
| 雨过天青 | yǔ guò tiān qīng | sky clears after rain / new hopes after a disastrous period (idiom) / every cloud has a silver lining (idiom) / see also 雨過天晴|雨过天晴[yu3 guo4 tian1 qing2] | |
| 大有希望 | dà yǒu xī wàng | to stand a good chance / to have great hopes / to be promising | |
| 寄予厚望 | jì yǔ hòu wàng | to place high hopes | |
| 希望落空 | xī wàng luò kōng | hopes are dashed | |
| 重望 | zhòng wàng | renowned / prestigious / great hopes / expectations | |
| 抱持 | bào chí | to hold (expectations, hopes etc) / to maintain (an attitude etc) / to harbor (doubts etc) / to clinch (boxing) | |
| 郁郁不得志 | yù yù bù dé zhì | soured by the loss of one's hopes | |
