as in desire
a strong wish for something
by four o'clock in the afternoon, I usually experience a strong longing for chocolate
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pining
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of longing
Angeline Jane Bernabe, ABC News, 23 Mar. 2026
The notion of travel had been reduced to memory and longing.
—Ron Stodghill, Miami Herald, 23 Mar. 2026
Merve Emre, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for longing
Noun
The trailer opens with Moana longing for more beyond the reef of her home island, Motunui, as her grandmother, Gramma Tala (Rena Owen), shares a story.
—Angeline Jane Bernabe, ABC News, 23 Mar. 2026
The notion of travel had been reduced to memory and longing.
—Ron Stodghill, Miami Herald, 23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
Werther, in his self-delusion, embodies another Goethean type, the longing man—ordinary, but convinced of the extraordinariness of his feelings.
—Merve Emre, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for longing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for longing
Noun
-
Sports, after all, can be a vehicle for shaping our values and expressing our desires.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
-
As the war in Iran rages on, both rising oil prices and consumers’ decreasing desire to jet-set in uncertain times hang like a dark cloud over the industry, threatening to upend air travel across the world.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The market can accommodate pretty much any Italian food craving, offering everything from antipasto to Zeppole di San Giuseppe (a seasonal specialty dessert).—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Apr. 2026
-
As with any addiction, people who stop smoking might experience cravings and withdrawals.—
Bautista Vivanco,
Boston Herald,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Starring Elordi and Barry Keoghan, Fennell’s dark comedy about class resentment and covetous destruction was sold on the promise of erotic excess.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
9 Feb. 2026
-
For most players, that amount of storage is realistically enough for all but the most covetous data hoarders.—
Matt Kamen,
Wired News,
3 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
After all, nothing puts a damper on a picnic faster than warm drinks — especially as temperatures rise and guests crave cold, refreshing beverages to quench their thirst.—
Sian Babish,
PEOPLE,
7 Apr. 2026
-
When the mood strikes for a hair refresh, even brunettes have a sudden thirst for bursts of lightened hair.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Born in Naples in 1943, the son of a seamstress and a railway employee who was also an accomplished and ambitious painter, Starnone began his working life as a schoolteacher.—
Tim Parks,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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The grant also supported an ambitious effort to bring the wild descendants of McCloud salmon back to California from New Zealand.—
Rachel Becker,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Ignoring urges and doing the maneuver at other times means more straining, which can be painful, time-consuming and consequential in terms of hemorrhoids and damage to the muscles involved in pooping.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
7 Apr. 2026
-
And each movement aroused an urge to move in the woman lying above, as if an avalanche of imperceptible but palpable vibrations had been triggered.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In Nazi Germany, the regime understood that nothing unites a restless population faster than a common enemy.—
Steven Burg,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2026
-
There, the pioneers—practical, inventive, restless, exuberant white men—clashed with Indigenous peoples, subduing them and a wilderness filled with wild animals and abundant natural resources.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Muffuletta at Central Grocery When hunger hits, head to Central Grocery, the birthplace of the muffuletta sandwich and a NOLA original since 1906.—
Lauren Schuster,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
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From that point in the novel to its wrenching end, June searches for her baby with the passionate abandon of a first-time mother and the aching hunger of every mother separated from her child.—
Meredith Maran,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Longing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/longing. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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