yearn
verb (used without object)
to have an earnest or strong desire; long.
yearned
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past participleof yearn.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof yearn.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
yearnverb (used without object)to have an earnest or strong desire; long.
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.
Already recognized as perhaps the top power-hitting second baseman of all time, he yearned for a championship ring to make his career complete.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
That’s the Appalachian landscape that Baurichter, a writer and stay-at-home mother in Higginsport, yearned to return to after a stint in Cincinnati for college.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
But Schulte’s surveys and focus groups clearly showed that men yearned to contribute to care and share obligations equally with women.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
But I yearned for a way of understanding the world that could make room for both the importance of my past and the existence of my own agency.”
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
Standing a little apart from the choir, Ivy sang the dark sweetness that Pauline could not name; she sang the death-defying death that Pauline yearned for; she sang of the Stranger who knew .
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
