Example sentences
xī希wàng望nǐ你chéng成gōng功。
Hope you succeed.
bié别bào抱tài太dà大xī希wàng望。
Don't get your hopes too high.
About this word
希 is what little there is of something, thin and scarce, and 望 is looking out at something far away. Put them together and you get the shape of hope: wanting something scarce that sits at a distance. 希望 works as a verb (我希望你来) and as a noun (有希望, there is hope). 望 alone is the gaze, and it survives in 望远镜 (telescope) and 失望 (disappointment, the look coming back empty).
The story behind the character
希
希 is 爻 over 巾, cloth. Here's the odd part: Xu Shen's dictionary has an entry for 稀, sparse grain, and none at all for 希. The meaning 希 carries wherever it shows up is rare, thin, few. Pair it with 望, a long look into the distance, and you get 希望: looking out for something rare.
望
望 is somebody standing on a mound, staring at the moon. The oldest form shows a big upright eye (臣) tipped up toward the 月, with a figure below planted on raised ground. Later the eye was swapped for 亡 to carry the sound, which is why you now write 亡 over 月 over 王. 希望 is that same long look, pointed forward.