yearning

[yur-ning]

noun

1. deep longing, especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness.

   a widower's yearning for his wife.

2. an instance of such longing.

ˈyearning

/ ˈjɜːnɪŋ /

noun

1. an intense or overpowering longing, desire, or need; craving

Other Word Forms

• yearningly adverb
• unyearning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of yearning¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English gierninge; equivalent to yearn + -ing ¹

Synonym Study

See desire.

Example Sentences

One day I’d be fine, and the next I would find myself devastated, yearning to hear from him.

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Yet, however destructive to his personal life, Matthiessen’s restive, yearning nature animated the best of his fiction.

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Ms. O’Hara has the more richly written role, and she imbues Carmen with a gentle sense of yearning.

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“We’re all susceptible to the sweet rush of approval, the desperate fear of disapproval, and the yearning for purpose and community,” Huet writes.

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In an interview with Salon, Lawrence rejected the notion that Americans are yearning for a centrist party, saying that voters want candidates who offer tangible material, positive change.

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Related Words

• ambition 
• appetite 
• aspiration 
• craving 
• eagerness 
• fascination 
• hankering 
• hunger 
• longing 
• passion 
• thirst