- present participle of yearn.
yearning
Americannoun
-
yearnings
plural
-
deep longing, especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness.
a widower's yearning for his wife.
-
an instance of such longing.
noun
Synonym Usage
See desire.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of yearning
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English gierninge; equivalent to yearn + -ing 1
Explanation
A yearning is a strong desire. If you have a yearning to travel in Africa, it means that you dream about it and intensely hope that one day you'll end up there. A strong longing for something is a yearning for it. If you have a yearning for ice cream, it probably means that you've gone a long time without any and are almost desperate to taste some. The Old English root of the words yearn and yearning is georn, which means "eager or desirous."
Vocabulary lists containing yearning
100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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"Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
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Achievement First 7th Grade IA 1 Words
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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.
See Examples For:
“Victoria has layers on what she can do,” says Lucky Daye, who joins her for a yearning duet, “Maybe,” with a bit of Patti LaBelle-and-Michael McDonald energy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Frustrated, I find myself yearning for an expert.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Will it capture Austen’s witty text and unforgettable scenes of yearning?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
"So I was personally yearning for hooks and verses that are as powerful as choruses. Like an Elton John song where the melody just breaks your heart."
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Only one treasure could ignite that deep greedy yearning in Dimarion’s voice.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
The photo remains a bellwether even today, revealing more about the yearnings and prejudices of its viewers than about the subject herself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
"I always had these yearnings for a lifestyle that was different to the materialistic lifestyle," he explains.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
Brody: There are opportunities of creative fulfillment, and that is such a deep part of any artistic person’s yearnings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025
Jimmy Carter once said, “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2024
A few days later she took me to a nurse-practitioner, who listened to my yearnings for my mother.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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.
