longing
Americannoun
-
strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant.
filled with longing for home.
- Synonyms:
- aspiration
- Antonyms:
- apathy
-
an instance of this.
a sudden longing to see old friends.
adjective
noun
adjective
Related Words
See desire.
Other Word Forms
- longingly adverb
- longingness noun
Etymology
Origin of longing
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English langung; equivalent to long 2 + -ing 1
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.
Trot songs often express "han" - a deep-seated feeling of sorrow, resentment and longing shaped by Korea's history of foreign subjugation and one of the most enduring themes in Korean culture.
From BBC
“In a landscape where dating apps encourage efficiency and optionality, longing becomes a way of resisting closure,” writes one, and that yearning “allows feelings to exist without being immediately tested against reality.”
From Salon
Despite the screwball setup, “The Hitch” is, as much as anything, a moving meditation on loneliness, longing and familial short leashes.
She embodied a loveliness, a presence, I was longing for; something I hadn’t found in L.A. — or had lost.
From Los Angeles Times
She needed a break from staring at the computer screen longing for a lost Post-it.
From Literature
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.
