pine for

phrasal verb

pined for; pining for; pines for
: to feel very sad because one wants (something) or because one is not with (someone)
She was pining for the old days.
He's pining for his college sweetheart.

Examples of pine for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The Democratic strategists who have chewed over their party’s unpopularity in memo after memo since last November pine for an authentic tribune of the working class. Molly Ball, Time, 29 Oct. 2025 Half of people are pining for those. Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Oct. 2025 Matisse Thybulle dutifully signed autographs from kids who pined for a signature from a solid role player. Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 26 Oct. 2025 They’ve been folded into xenophobic and antisemitic edits pining for an Aryan ethnostate. Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 24 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pine for

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pine for.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pine%20for. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!