magari
mah-GAH-reeinterjection, adverbColloquial
A Italian slang term. Browse all Italian slang.
What it means
If only! I wish. Standing alone, it expresses a wish the speaker thinks unlikely.
Maybe, perhaps. Mid-sentence it is an ordinary hedge.
With a subjunctive: even if, supposing that.
The standalone 'if only' sense is the one that surprises learners — it is almost the opposite of 'maybe'.
Examples with translations
—Vinci tu la lotteria? —Magari!
'Are you going to win the lottery?' 'I wish!'
Magari ci vediamo domani.
Maybe we'll see each other tomorrow.
Where it comes from
From Greek makários, 'blessed, happy' — a Byzantine borrowing that survived into Italian. The wish sense is closest to the original.