pining
Americanadjective
-
suffering with or expressing longing or yearning for someone or something.
Exposing her vulnerability and loneliness, the poet addresses her country as would a pining woman in a letter to her beloved in a distant land.
Her pining vocals on these tracks throb with the loneliness and emptiness of fresh separation.
-
failing gradually in health or vitality, especially from grief, regret, or longing.
The day after the altercation he took sick, and continued in a pining and languishing condition till his death, which soon ensued.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pining
First recorded in 1200–50; pin(e) 2 ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; pin(e) 2 ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
Vocabulary lists containing pining
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pining for pre-pandemic days is merely romanticizing days gone by.
From Washington Post • Mar. 10, 2022
My RBF typically turns into Pining Puppydog Face and I become flustered.
From The Guardian • Jun. 12, 2018
“I’m sitting here just pining. Pining for a bite.”
From Time • Apr. 18, 2016
"So, I’m sitting here just pining. Pining for a bite!"
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2016
Pining for your native air—no, home air—I presume.
From Elsie's Girlhood A Sequel to "Elsie Dinsmore" and "Elsie's Holidays at Roselands" by Finley, Martha
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
