I. ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ adjective
Etymology: from the phrase would be
: desiring or professing to be : wishing to be reputed
good musicianship will enable a would-be conductor … to improve himself — Warwick Braithwaite
retaliatory power is one strong deterrent to a would-be aggressor — D.D.Eisenhower
— often used disparagingly
looked like what he was, a would-be fighter who … had nowhere to go — Hamilton Basso
turn lesson notes into would-be textbooks and go in vain the round of the publishers — James Britton
II. noun
( -s )
: one who wishes to be or to be reputed something one is not — usually used disparagingly
compelled to listen to has-beens and would-bes trying to put over bad plays — A.L.Burt
nothing but these would-bes in New York getups, drinking tea — Sinclair Lewis