velleity

velleity \veh-LEE-uh-tee; vuh-\, noun:

1. The lowest degree of desire; imperfect or incomplete volition.
2. A slight wish or inclination.

To become now a priest was an elevation of sorts; yet the ceremony, as we would soon see, reinforced every contrast between the life he would lead and the life of the high and mighty, for whom the crowds roar and the bands play, courtiers and servants surrounding them to gratify the least velleity, historians on their toes to record their wispiest thought.
-- William F. Buckley Jr., Nearer, My God

The ease of her words, the control of them, was meant to convey to Compton that her wish to know of her real parents was hardly more than a velleity, a thought that would come to one while watering a plant or peeling an orange.
-- Thomas Savage, The Sheep Queen

He does not shout out his wishes or velleities, unless invited by his host to do so.
-- Philip Howard, "Modern Manners", Times (London), September 15, 2003

Velleity is derived from Latin velle, "to will, to be willing, to wish."