longing
strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant: filled with longing for home.
an instance of this: a sudden longing to see old friends.
having or characterized by persistent or earnest desire: a longing look.
Origin of longing
1synonym study For longing
Other words for longing
Opposites for longing
Other words from longing
- long·ing·ly, adverb
- long·ing·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use longing in a sentence
If the past nine months of the pandemic leave you longing for normalcy and business as usual, your career prospects may be dim.
Over the past several months, social media has offered a collective confessional of the unexpected things we find ourselves longing for—from the rituals of daily commutes to a litany of once-familiar, but now-faded smells.
It’s about the feeling of being a teenager longing for something more, while fearing something more will never come.
One Good Thing: An amazing game played entirely via text message | Emily VanDerWerff | November 30, 2020 | VoxWhile the longing that hums beneath Lee’s words is never entirely satisfied, it is eased and relieved.
It was recommended to me by numerous friends and seems to be the kind of story we’re all longing for right now.
I see a couple holding each other and longingly looking at flash sheets on the wall.
Explosion of Cute: Inside the Superfan Mania of Hello Kitty Con 2014 | Sarah Bay Williams | November 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBakari reaches out, strokes Bundy's cheek and stares into his eyes longingly.
In the photo, Baldwin is staring longingly into the camera, his eyes like two giant marbles, his chin resting in his hand.
Broadway’s Rebel, Tellin’ You to Hear It: A Portrait of Saul Williams | Alex Suskind | June 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is an emotional scene in the movie when Bianca is gazing longingly out the window.
In the streets and in the shops hundreds of children gaze longingly and lovingly at the bebe or bambino in Italian.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia AustrianLooking across the fields in our rear (rather longingly) I had the happy distinction of a discoverer.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce | Ambrose BierceAn hour later Ren lit a cigarette and took a long drag on it, his eyes looking longingly into Martha's.
Unthinkable | Roger Phillips GrahamAnd it happened as she said, for they all praised her words and looked forward longingly to Sunday.
Giovanni Boccaccio, a Biographical Study | Edward HuttonIt was tiresome watching the girl wash dishes and often he glanced longingly at the tiny bed.
Little Wizard Stories of Oz | L. Frank Baum
British Dictionary definitions for longing
/ (ˈlɒŋɪŋ) /
a prolonged unfulfilled desire or need
having or showing desire or need: a longing look
Derived forms of longing
- longingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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