yawning

[yaw-ning]

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.

Other Word Forms

• yawningly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of yawning¹

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

Example Sentences

The government is scrambling to implement spending cuts and push through measures to narrow this yawning budget deficit to under 5% of gross domestic product.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Since then, Macron has churned through three different prime ministers, struggling to pass annual budgets and narrow the country’s yawning deficit.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“There’s a yawning longevity gap between those who can afford their shelter, food and healthcare, and those who can’t,” Johnson said.

Read more on MarketWatch

A sense of uncertainty about the future is prevalent among the young, while frustration is bubbling up over the yawning wealth gap and a general lack of opportunities.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He quit a mere month into the job after struggling to form a cabinet and unite lawmakers in the National Assembly around a budget that narrows France’s yawning deficit.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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