yearn
Americanverb (used without object)
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to have an earnest or strong desire; long.
to yearn for a quiet vacation.
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to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted.
They yearned over their delicate child.
verb
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to have an intense desire or longing (for); pine (for)
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to feel tenderness or affection
Related Words
Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something. Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire: to yearn to get away and begin a new life; to yearn desperately for recognition. Long implies a wholehearted desire for something that is or seems unattainable: to long to relive one's childhood; to long for the warmth of summer. Hanker suggests a restless or incessant craving to fulfill some urge or desire: to hanker for a promotion; to hanker after fame and fortune. Pine adds the notion of physical or emotional suffering as a result of the real or apparent hopelessness of one's desire: to pine for one's native land; to pine for a lost love.
Other Word Forms
- unyearned adjective
- yearner noun
Etymology
Origin of yearn
First recorded before 900; Middle English yernen, Old English giernan derivative of georn “eager”; akin to Old Norse girna “to desire,” Greek chaírein “to rejoice,” Sanskrit háryati “(he) desires”
Explanation
To yearn for something is to really, really want it. You might yearn for freedom or you might yearn for a perfect tamale. Usually you yearn for something or someone you can't easily get. If you have a hankering for pie, you could also say that you yearn for it. Yearn also means "to feel sweet on someone" or "to have affection for something." If your girlfriend moves to Alaska and you’re stuck in Texas, you’d probably yearn for her. And when she comes back to visit, you would still yearn — meaning you’d still feel affection for her.
Vocabulary lists containing yearn
"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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List 12
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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.
He said he continued to pray for peace, diplomacy and the “well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice,” according to a translated statement.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
She may still yearn for the approval, acknowledgement, attention and validation of her father, even if she received those things from her stepfather.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 25, 2026
Yearning is their common language; they yearn alone and they yearn together.
From Salon • Feb. 21, 2026
"There is so much to do, let's do it. Let's yearn for a happy ending in our own lives."
From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026
I would always yearn for them and remember them, but there was nothing left for me in Europe but ghosts.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
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.
