yearn
to have an earnest or strong desire; long: to yearn for a quiet vacation.
to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted: They yearned over their delicate child.
Origin of yearn
1synonym study For yearn
Other words from yearn
- yearner, noun
- un·yearned, adjective
Words Nearby yearn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use yearn in a sentence
In the sense that many people are out of a job and yearning for a sense of security agencies can’t give them.
‘We’re building the plane while flying’: AB InBev’s in-house team plans structural changes as it takes on more work | Seb Joseph | February 10, 2021 | DigidayPerhaps I had become irredeemably out of control because the direction and encouragement I yearned for at home was absent.
Traditional school isn’t always the way to go, and I wish my parents had seen that earlier | Kenneth R. Rosen | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostWeary of the disruptions, students yearn to return to the classroom.
Spring term delays: New wave of coronavirus uncertainty slams higher education | Nick Anderson | January 20, 2021 | Washington PostIf you yearn for tranquility, you’ll spend your life in turmoil because that’s not what life is like.
Everything is awful. Here’s a Q&A with a philosopher about why cats rule. | Sean Illing | January 15, 2021 | VoxIt’s the kind of experience that makes one yearn for a simple life.
Sexless in the City - Facts So Romantic | Anastasia Bendebury & Michael Shilo DeLay | August 11, 2020 | Nautilus
Over 2,000 people graduate from university each year in Bhutan, and they yearn for professional work.
We may yearn for them but they are unreachable now, left in a past that seems almost to belong to a distant planet.
Obama’s Extravagant Summer Break? More Like, America’s Vacation-Deficit Disorder | Clive Irving | August 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt's at a time like this that Germans yearn most for Paul the Octopus, the great mollusk soothsayer for Germany.
The Amazing Tale of Paul the Psychic Octopus: Germany’s World Cup Soothsayer | Emily Shire | July 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFine—many (though not all) transgender people yearn to take on their felt gender role.
Southern Baptist Convention: Trans People Don’t Exist | Jay Michaelson | June 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI yearn for an America where people in positions of leadership actually take actual responsibility for their actual failures.
‘No Drama’ Obama Finally Takes Charge and Sacks Shinseki | Michael Tomasky | May 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI yearn for one now, but will not endeavour to procure one, I wish to be a father, yet refuse to be a husband or enact his part.'
Ancient Faiths And Modern | Thomas InmanYour 'gift,' your genius, is yourself, and it's because it's yourself that I yearn for you.
The Tragic Muse | Henry JamesHow often, during my ministry, did I yearn to be able to utter that emphatic word!
My New Curate | P.A. SheehanAll that blood in the water made a fine sight, made him yearn all the more to wet his hands with blood.
Shaman | Robert SheaNeither did he yearn for fair persons—sometimes containing a soul—obtainable at a price for ineffable delight.
The Surprises of Life | Georges Clemenceau
British Dictionary definitions for yearn
/ (jɜːn) /
(usually foll by for or after or an infinitive) to have an intense desire or longing (for); pine (for)
to feel tenderness or affection
Origin of yearn
1Derived forms of yearn
- yearner, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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