yawn
Americanverb (used without object)
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yawns,
present (3rd person singular)
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yawned,
past participle, past
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yawning
present participle
verb (used with object)
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yawns,
present (3rd person singular)
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yawned,
past participle, past
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yawning
present participle
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to say with a yawn.
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Archaic. to open wide, or lay open, as if by yawning.
noun
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yawns
plural
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an act or instance of yawning.
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an opening; open space; chasm.
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Informal. Also something so boring as to make one yawn.
Critics say the new fashions are one big yawn.
verb
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(intr) to open the mouth wide and take in air deeply, often as in involuntary reaction to tiredness, sleepiness, or boredom
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(tr) to express or utter while yawning
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(intr) to be open wide as if threatening to engulf (someone or something)
the mine shaft yawned below
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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yawnsimple
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yawnssimple
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have yawnedperfect
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has yawnedperfect
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am yawningprogressive
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are yawningprogressive
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is yawningprogressive
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have been yawningperfect progressive
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has been yawningperfect progressive
Past
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yawnedsimple
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had yawnedperfect
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was yawningprogressive
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were yawningprogressive
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had been yawningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yawn
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb yanen, yonen, alteration of yenen, Old English ge(o)nian; akin to Old English gānian, ginan, Old Norse gīna, German gähnen, Latin hiāre “to be wide open, gape,” Greek chaínein “to gape”; cf. hiatus, dehisce ( def. ), chasm
Explanation
The reflex that makes you open your mouth wide, inhale, and then exhale is called a yawn. Even seeing photos of other people's yawns (or reading the word yawn) can make you yawn. We yawn when we're very bored or tired, or when our bodies need an influx of oxygen. Scientists aren't completely in agreement about all the reasons why we yawn, but the "contagious yawn" happens across all human societies and even in non-human animals like chimpanzees and dogs. Things can also yawn in a figurative way, when they're open wide. Yawn comes from gionian in Old English, "open the mouth wide."
Vocabulary lists containing yawn
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.
See Examples For:
Or, in other words, pour yourself a cup of ambition and yawn and stretch and try to come to life.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
While the initial reaction in the stock market was a collective yawn, a five-year lookback shows that long-term investors have been treated very well by the company’s board of directors.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 13, 2026
If your mouth opens wide during any of the supposedly terrifying interludes, it’s more likely to form a yawn than a cry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Yet despite all that’s at stake, the tournament has generated little more than a collective yawn among fans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025
A few minutes later, the girls began to yawn.
From "Sleepover Sleuths: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #1" by Carolyn Keene
“Today’s market yawns at the risk only because Iran talks tough, but hasn’t pulled the trigger, ever,” Raj said.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
Almost always these machines and the services they supported provoked yawns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
This account reposts tons of cute videos—of snuggles, leaps, yawns, and naps.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2024
At the end of May, dusk yawns deep over the bayou, spinning orange-pink gold across summer-green front lawns, softening the day-bleached glare of pearlshell gravel roads.
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
She stretches and yawns, revealing the big hole under the arm of her T-shirt.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
The world watched dumbstruck as the historic event was broadcast live, but Wall Street yawned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The C-130’s cargo doors yawned open, letting in a rush of sea air before Gaza came into view.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025
Newspapers have felt it for decades, part of a system whose fractures have yawned into complete breaks.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2025
Pimblett, who yawned after sitting down, looked disinterested for the majority of the news conference before being sparked into life by Ferguson.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2023
Matthias stretched, yawned and scratched under the collar.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Earlier in the war, a yawning gap emerged with physical market cargoes priced well above Brent futures, signaling immediate supply pressure and traders’ optimism that the war would be over soon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Before the advent of yawning, warehouse-sized big-box stores, print catalogs served as portals to the future.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Those yawning at the contest may be looking for glitz and entertainment.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Following more than 20 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, US Vice President JD Vance admitted the yawning differences between the US and Iran proved to be insurmountable for the moment.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
But after I’m done, I still have that yawning emptiness inside of me.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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.
