yearning
Americannoun
-
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
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.
Our yearning to forget is superseded by our desire to understand why things are the way they are.
From Salon • May 25, 2026
She worries more, however, about a similar yearning and loss of confidence among Americans writ large.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
It’s also about the yearning for a more optimistic era of musical storytelling, when goodness could be counted on to prevail and a happy ending might be delayed but only rarely denied.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
In Krúdy’s fantasias, the yearning for the past is really a yearning for one’s lost youth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
Some yearning for the comfort of old habits must have seized him, because, finally, he pulled out his leather pocket chess set and started going over the last game of the match.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
