They looked with longing toward freedom.
She cast a look of longing at the shop window.
She never told anyone about her secret longings.
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Despite misogynistic ideas around sexuality, many straight women do want to consume stories that are explicit, intimate, and full of emotional longing.—Maya Walsh-Little, SELF, 15 Dec. 2025 Often referred to as nostalgia, these sentimental feelings can evoke both joy and longing around the holidays.—Sherri Gordon, Health, 12 Dec. 2025 In the first, fellow Globe nominee Ethan Hawke portrays Hart struggling through an alcoholic haze and with various erotic longings while his career prospects go up in smoke.—Chris Lee, Vulture, 11 Dec. 2025 The support for the new Sharaa government, and often angry or excessive reactions on social media to any form of dissent or criticism, is not a longing for authoritarian rule.—Hassan Hassan, Time, 8 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for longing
Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of longing was
before the 12th century
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