YEARNING Synonyms: 122 Similar and Opposite Words

yearning 1 of 3

noun

ˈyər-niŋ

Definition of yearning

as in longing

a strong wish for something had a sudden yearning for something sweet

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

yearning

2 of 3

adjective

as in crying

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

yearning

3 of 3

verb

present participle of yearn

as in pining

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 yearning

Noun

Every window of every building the bus crawled past opened a severe yearning in me, as though my life here had become abstract or theoretical. — Hisham Matar, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2026 And what’s dramatic about this is that having grown up on a remote mountain farm in the 1940s, away from almost any remnant of civilization, Mikey has zero context for his erotic yearnings. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026 If your yearning for autumn kicks off early, here are three September festivals near Charlotte. — Charlotte Observer, 4 Sep. 2026 This feels like a good place to put our energy and our artistry and our yearning to set the world in order. — Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for yearning

Recent Examples of Synonyms for yearning

Noun

With her toadstool-like jet-black perm and dark red lipstick, Haru is a striking presence, the sensuousness of her moves conveying both longing and sorrow.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Without authentic longing, and without any bittersweet complexity to the portrait of one social order replacing another, we’re left with little more than puffs of amusement, enough to escalate your mood but bound to fade by morning.

— Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of longing

Noun

Although The Love Witch played around 100 theaters upon its 2016 debut, will audiences’ cravings for something different be enough to secure a wide release for The Face of Horror a decade later?

— Glenn Garner, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026
Needing coffee immediately upon waking and experiencing afternoon fatigue, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, and sugar cravings.

— Marie Bladt, Vogue, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of craving

Adjective

Polling continues to show that housing affordability ranks among the most pressing concerns for Americans nationwide.

— Matt Galka, Baltimore Sun, 28 Sep. 2026
That included some residents choosing to pay other, more pressing bills instead of renewing their home insurance — something that’s important but that people don’t always anticipate needing, Richardson said.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of pressing

Noun

The idea of a child receiving an injection for weight loss strikes at something deep — a desire to let children be children, free from adult burdens.

— Babak J. Orandi, STAT, 1 Oct. 2026
His desire echoes that of his boss, BBC Studios Productions chief Zai Bennett, which is to invest in around two to three of these new-look talent labels per year.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of desire

Adjective

The spectral are getting louder, more insistent, more prevalent, and our literature, our cinema, reflect this.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
But his presence in Monday’s festivities, held after an 8-3 win over the Twins at Target Field, illustrated why Aaron Judge was so insistent when asked if the championship-or-bust Bombers would celebrate a simple playoff berth.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of insistent

Noun

But resist the urge to throw every brightening ingredient at the problem.

— Glamour, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2026
In their eloquence and their ways of avoiding easy comfort, the poems also deal with the hushed experience of surviving someone else’s death and fulfill the urge to say something not only real and true but formal and exact, as though for a ceremony.

— Colm Tóibín, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of urge

Adjective

Ukrainian officials have expressed deep concern over the attacks, saying there is an urgent need for the country to be able to rapidly respond to missile and drone threats.

— Sam Meredith, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026
Current government figures estimate that prisons, which hovered somewhere between 97% and 98% capacity last month, will fill up by November without urgent action.

— Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of urgent

Cite this Entry

Style

“Yearning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yearning. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of yearning

noun

adjective

verb

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