What does "magari" mean?

I wish! / maybe / if only.

Language: 🇮🇹 Italian
Say it: ma-GA-ree
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How it's actually used

Said alone with feeling, it means "I wish that were true." Inside a sentence it means maybe. With the subjunctive it becomes a real wish: "magari fosse vero." One of the most useful and most mistranslated Italian words.

Examples

—Vinci tu? —Magari! "Will you win?" "I wish!"
Magari domani. Maybe tomorrow.

Where it comes from

From Greek makários (blessed, fortunate).

Before you say it

It flips between "maybe" and "if only" on tone alone. Learners usually only pick up "maybe."

Now actually use it out loud

Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Italian — it uses magari the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Italian.