yawning

American  

[yaw-ning] / ˈyɔ nɪŋ /

adjective

1. being or standing wide open; gaping.

   the yawning mouth of a cave.

2. indicating by yawns one's weariness or indifference.

   The lecturer was oblivious to his yawning audience.

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Other Word Forms

• yawningly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of yawning

before 900; Middle English; Old English geniendum. See yawn, -ing ²

Explanation

Yawning is what happens when you reflexively open your mouth wide, inhale, and exhale again. Most yawning is caused by sleepiness or extreme boredom. Use the word yawning for actual yawning — or to mean "wide open." A yawning chasm in the ground is a huge, wide gap, and a yawning hole in a movie's plot is the obvious space where some details are missing, making the resulting story seem unlikely and unbelievable. A yawning child, on the other hand, is probably just ready for her nap.

Example Sentences

And while the money did close some of the early, yawning deficit Cornyn was facing against Paxton in preliminary polling, it hardly has put his opponents away.

From Slate • Mar. 2, 2026

Germany's chancellor has touched down in China as German businesses sound the alarm about a yawning trade imbalance.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

Despite the yawning hole, Mamdani said he plans to present a balanced preliminary budget by pursuing savings and looking for inefficiencies without cutting any programs that benefit the working class.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

Nothing much happens, until the segment’s finale introduces a twist that suggests the yawning chasm between what we think we know about our parents and what the truth of their lives is.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 24, 2025

Shinae was sitting in the corner peeling onions very slowly and yawning.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

• broad
• buried
• deep-seated
• far
• profound
• rooted
• wide