What part of speech is "hopeful" in the sentence "Both candidates were hopeful"?

In the sentence "Both candidates were hopeful," the term "hopeful" serves as an adjective. Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns, providing additional information about them. In this case, "hopeful" describes the candidates, indicating their state of optimism or positive expectation regarding the outcome of a situation. The use of "hopeful" thus adds a qualitative aspect to the noun "candidates," enhancing our understanding of their attitude or emotional state. Since the function of "hopeful" aligns with the role of an adjective, it is identified correctly as such in this sentence.