longing

[lawng-ing, long-]

noun

1. strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant.

   filled with longing for home.

   Synonyms: aspiration
   Antonyms: apathy

2. an instance of this.

   a sudden longing to see old friends.

adjective

1. having or characterized by persistent or earnest desire.

   a longing look.

   Synonyms: yearning, desirous

longing

/ ˈlɒŋɪŋ /

noun

1. a prolonged unfulfilled desire or need

adjective

1. having or showing desire or need

   a longing look

Other Word Forms

• longingly adverb
• longingness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of longing¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English langung; equivalent to long ² + -ing ¹

Synonym Study

See desire.

Example Sentences

The setting is still a Swiss alpine hamlet, but the villagers are all members of some puritanical sect and its sleepwalking heroine, Amina, has longings that transcend its limits.

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On her own admission, she spent far too much time "longing for boys".

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Surely, some pop fans are longing to behold perfection.

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I thought I’d seen the last of Jimmy, but I felt a longing to go north again, a sort of homesickness.

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He sought refuge in the church to escape his own carnal longings and found condemnation everywhere, including in the mirror.

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Related Words

• ambition 
• aspiration 
• craving 
• hankering 
• hunger 
• pining 
• thirst 
• wish 
• yearning