- 1想成為…的、自稱…的（尚未成功）；也可指「未遂的」。a would-be actor 想當演員的人（還沒當成）、a would-be thief 竊賊未遂。語氣常帶一點淡淡的挖苦，說人家 would-be writer 有「還不算作家」的意味；要中性一點可用 aspiring（有志於…的）。
'Would-be' goes in front of a noun and means 'hoping or trying to be this thing, but not it yet': a would-be actor, a would-be writer, would-be buyers. It always describes the person by the thing they are aiming at, so it only makes sense before a noun — you cannot say "he is would-be". Keep the ; it is one word doing one job. There is a second, colder use that surprises : it also means 'attempted, but failed'. A 'would-be thief' is someone who tried to steal and did not manage it; a 'would-be attacker' tried to attack. Newspapers love this one. So the same little word can describe a hopeful young singer and a who got caught — the thread joining them is that in both cases the intention was there and the reality was not. Tone matters here. 'Would-be' before a job or an art usually carries a small, dry smile from the writer: a would-be poet is not quite a poet, and everyone in the sentence knows it. It can sound , so be careful using it about a real person to their face. If you simply want to say someone hopes to be something, without the raised , 'aspiring' is warmer ('an aspiring writer'), and 'future' or 'trainee' are neutral. Compare too 'wannabe', which is the same idea in slang and is openly rude.
would-be 放在名詞前面，指想成為那樣的人，但還沒成功，例如 a would-be actor（想當演員的人）。它只能放在名詞前面，形成「a would-be ＿＿」，不能單獨接在 be 動詞後面。它還有第二個比較冷的意思，是嘗試過但沒有成功，例如 a would-be thief（竊賊未遂）。
用在職業或藝術前面時，語氣常帶一點淡淡的挖苦，像 a would-be poet 就有還不算真正詩人的味道。若只是想說對方抱負遠大、還沒成功，語氣中性一點，可以說有志於…的，或未來的。當面用在真人身上時要小心。
組成would + be — literally 'who would be (this)', frozen into a single hyphenated word used before a noun.
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
would-beadj/ˈwʊd biː/
- 1
Attempting or desiring something.
- Would-be marines have to get through a rigorous examination.
- As Tarzan’s heavy hand fell upon his shoulder the priest dropped his victim, and turned upon her would-be rescuer.
- 2
Unfulfilled; frustrated in realizing a goal, ambition, etc.
- Would-be film stars often become waitresses.
- It was not till the rays of the sun had absorbed the young stranger's retreating figure on the hill that she shook off her temporary sadness and answered her would-be partner in the affirmative.
would-benoun/ˈwʊd biː/
- 1
One who aspires to something.
- The would-bes are very sure that the managers have it in for them; just as most young writers regard publishers as being in conspiracy against budding genius.
- 2
One's fiancé or fiancée.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。