yearning

noun

yearn·​ing ˈyər-niŋ 

: a tender or urgent longing

a yearning for justice

Synonyms

• longing
• craving
• desire
• urge
• thirst
• hunger

Examples of yearning in a Sentence

had a sudden yearning for something sweet

Recent Examples on the Web

Consciousness, human life, utterly in the grip of its own dreamlife, all our thinking and voicing caught in a web of surreal distortion, generated by our irrational yearning and apprehensions, our appetite for myth, our solipsism. —Jane Ciabattari september 25, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025

Is this yearning for him normal? —Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2025

Set in Maozhuang Village, where real-life 800-year-old Song-dynasty stone statues stand sentry amid vast wheat fields, the film uses arthouse technique to express the inner yearnings of Qing and her mother, who otherwise stay silent about their emotional worlds. —Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025

The intention was to show the passion for each other, and that this is the culmination of all the waiting and longing and yearning. —Sam Reed, Glamour, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for yearning

• adjourning
• concerning
• discerning
• returning
• burning
• churning
• earning
• learning
• spurning
• turning
• overturning

Kids Definition

yearning

noun

yearn·​ing

: a tender or eager longing