yearn

[yurn]

verb (used without object)

1. to have an earnest or strong desire; long.

   to yearn for a quiet vacation.

2. to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted.

   They yearned over their delicate child.

yearn

/ jɜːn /

verb

1. to have an intense desire or longing (for); pine (for)

2. to feel tenderness or affection

Other Word Forms

• yearner noun
• unyearned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of yearn¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English yernen, Old English giernan derivative of georn “eager”; akin to Old Norse girna “to desire,” Greek chaírein “to rejoice,” Sanskrit háryati “(he) desires”

Word History and Origins

Origin of yearn¹

Old English giernan; related to Old Saxon girnian, Old Norse girna, Gothic gairnjan, Old High German gerōn to long for, Sanskrit haryati he likes

Synonym Study

Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something. Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire: to yearn to get away and begin a new life; to yearn desperately for recognition. Long implies a wholehearted desire for something that is or seems unattainable: to long to relive one's childhood; to long for the warmth of summer. Hanker suggests a restless or incessant craving to fulfill some urge or desire: to hanker for a promotion; to hanker after fame and fortune. Pine adds the notion of physical or emotional suffering as a result of the real or apparent hopelessness of one's desire: to pine for one's native land; to pine for a lost love.

Example Sentences

But I will yearn for more scenes of sublime, ridiculous formal dining experiences.

Read more on Salon

For her, home means only one place - Imphal valley - and she yearns to go back.

Read more on BBC

Because nostalgia isn’t simply about yearning for the past.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Mr. Simon’s record was also one of the first to grasp the mid-’70s ennui of a generation fenced in by marital responsibilities and yearning for its earlier, wilder self.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s a portrait of loss and yearning, made up of vivid recollections from her childhood, her family, and her previous relationships.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ache 
• chafe 
• covet 
• crave 
• hanker 
• hunger 
• itch 
• pine 
• thirst