pining

American  

[pahy-ning] / ˈpaɪ nɪŋ /

adjective

1. suffering with or expressing longing or yearning for someone or something.

   Exposing her vulnerability and loneliness, the poet addresses her country as would a pining woman in a letter to her beloved in a distant land.

   Her pining vocals on these tracks throb with the loneliness and emptiness of fresh separation.

2. failing gradually in health or vitality, especially from grief, regret, or longing.

   The day after the altercation he took sick, and continued in a pining and languishing condition till his death, which soon ensued.

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noun

1. the act or state of yearning or longing, or of gradually failing in health or vitality.

   It’s a story of the pining we all feel for the pleasures of our childhood and the relationships that once held us in safety.

Etymology

Origin of pining

First recorded in 1200–50; pin(e) ² ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; pin(e) ² ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

By all accounts, investors are pining for shares.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

“Audiences are pining for novelty, especially younger demographics.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Their plight at the hugely unpopular and vast former athletics track is well documented, with fans pining for Upton Park's intimidating atmosphere.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

For decades engineers, architects, futurists, industrialists, investors and politicians have been pining for a better, faster and cheaper way to build homes.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2026

As long as the wretched Goodacre was well out of our lives, some degree of pining and sighing might be indulged in strictly as a romantic exercise.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

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