yearning
Americannoun
-
deep longing, especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness.
a widower's yearning for his wife.
-
an instance of such longing.
noun
Related Words
See desire.
Other Word Forms
- unyearning adjective
- yearningly adverb
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.
And so I am forever starting over with the torment of loss combined with an itchy yearning.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
His lyrics are refreshing, clearly about human yearning but never seeming confessional or like he has a specific point to make.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
Her lyrical themes are familiar – yearning desire, romantic uncertainty – but there's a newfound freedom in dancing her cares away.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
And an underpinning of loneliness and suppressed yearning.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
Enrique is struggling financially Fed up with the cramped conditions in his mother’s apartment and their constant fights, yearning for some scrap of privacy, he has moved out and rented a bedroom in a trailer.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
