long 1 of 4

long

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noun

long

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adverb

long

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word long distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of long are hanker, hunger, pine, thirst, and yearn. While all these words mean "to have a strong desire for something," long implies a wishing with one's whole heart and often a striving to attain.

longed for some rest

When would hanker be a good substitute for long?

Although the words hanker and long have much in common, hanker suggests the uneasy promptings of unsatisfied appetite or desire.

always hankering for money

How are the words hunger and thirst related as synonyms of long?

Both hunger and thirst imply an insistent or impatient craving or a compelling need.

hungered for a business of his own
thirsted for power

When can pine be used instead of long?

The meanings of pine and long largely overlap; however, pine implies a languishing or a fruitless longing for what is impossible.

pined for a lost love

When is it sensible to use yearn instead of long?

The words yearn and long are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, yearn suggests an eager, restless, or painful longing.

yearned for a stage career

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of long
Adjective
Subscribers on Xbox Game Pass Standard will have to wait to play the game without paying extra — new games typically don't come to the service for Game Pass Standard subscribers until at least six months after launch, and often longer. Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025 The first two rounds last three minutes per batter, and the final round is two minutes long, with a maximum number of pitches that a hitter can receive. Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 7 July 2025
Noun
His first major market was former merchants and colonial administrators who longed for a souvenir of their time in Brazil. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2025 Isabel Allende: The beloved author left Chile at a time of great turmoil and has longed for the nation of her youth ever since. Lulu Garcia-Navarro, New York Times, 31 May 2025
Adverb
Nielsen descends from a long line of drum dancers, but grew up listening to American blues, jazz and rock music. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 6 July 2025 At first, this was a welcome development, a long overdue correction to the racial and gender inequities in artistic endeavors. John McDermott, Rolling Stone, 6 July 2025
Verb
Franta longs for freedom, while Ondra clings to routine. Leo Barraclough, Variety, 25 June 2025 If the selling slows down, shorts will start covering, and some intrepid longs will wade in. Jim Cramer, CNBC, 23 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for long
Recent Examples of Synonyms for long
Adjective
  • The inner lobes are bright and short, while the outer lobes are faint and elongated.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 9 June 2025
  • Related Articles Amiri continues to offer suiting, with elongated and relaxed tailoring, as well as crochet and knits.
    Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • The state also referenced the heavy toll a monthslong trial could impose on the families as well as the possibility of lengthy appeals even if Kohberger were to be convicted and sentenced to death, according to the letter reviewed by ABC News.
    Kayna Whitworth, ABC News, 1 July 2025
  • The theory of natural selection persevered, and the lengthy record of our ancient roots began to fill out.
    Laura Poppick, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2025
Verb
  • Parts read like a narrative, other parts sound like a letter to the husband, sometimes explanatory, sometimes apologetic, sometimes pining.
    The Know, Denver Post, 18 May 2025
  • Songs that should blaze by are sluggish while tunes that should pine and linger are sped through.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The tusk, which is actually an elongated tooth, is mainly found in males and can grow up to 10 feet long.
    Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Chaos is a constant for the outdoor winter sport with single-elimination playoffs that relies on the bounces of an elongated sphere.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Argentina, at the bottom of South America, is a country way off course, and populated mostly with the children of Europeans for whom traveling is like breathing, who miss the world, the centers of culture, so very far way.
    Suzanne Jill Levine June 30, Literary Hub, 30 June 2025
  • Japan will begin building bomb shelters next year on its remote islands closest to Taiwan amid fears that its far western territory could become a legitimate target for Chinese missiles if China and the United States go to war.
    John Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 June 2025
Noun
  • One way to mess with an option team’s Plan A is to not only stick them with third-and-forevers, but to put them in an early hole, making them throw out of desperation.
    Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 14 Sep. 2019
  • Printed with thermochromic ink, the stamp reveals a second image of the moon when a finger is pressed to it, and a sheet of 16 Forever stamps features a map of the eclipse path.
    Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2017
Adverb
  • Whether they’re hired permanently or temporarily through an agency, these workers will now be covered by California’s workplace safety rules.
    Angela Rodriguez, Sacbee.com, 1 July 2025
  • The countries that have mediated the negotiations between Israel and Hamas are pushing to restart those conversations to end the war in Gaza permanently.
    Mike Brest, The Washington Examiner, 30 June 2025
Verb
  • The last quality marking the cinema of the rice cooker is yearning.
    Lisa Wong Macabasco, Vogue, 3 July 2025
  • The smattering of comparisons she’s been drawing to Leonard Cohen are apt for (and assuredly cherished by) the Vermont singer on her third album — the luminant vessel of a swarm of kinetic lyrical energy log jammed at the front gates of her mind, yearning for the page and demanding a romp.
    Aaron Davis, Sacbee.com, 29 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Long.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/long. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.

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