yearning
YUR-ning
/ˈjɜː.nɪŋ/
A feeling of intense longing, desire, or aching wish for something distant or unattainable.
Connotes a tender, continuous ache or hunger of the heart.
The story behind the word. Traced back to Proto-Germanic *gernjan, meaning to desire eagerly, related to Old Norse 'girna' and German 'gern' (gladly).
Word relationships
- craving: Craving often implies a physical or urgent appetite, whereas yearning is deeper and more emotional.
- longing: Longing and yearning are near-synonyms, though yearning carries a slightly more poetic, persistent tone.
- apathy: Apathy represents an total absence of desire or emotion.
Commonly confused with
- yearning vs hanker: Yearning is poetic and profound; hanker is more colloquial and restless.
Word family
- yearn (verb): To feel an intense longing.
- yearningly (adverb): With intense longing.
Collocations
- deep yearning
- yearning for
- intense yearning
- unfulfilled yearning
Idioms & expressions
- ache in one's heart
Example sentences
- "She felt a powerful yearning to explore the world beyond her quiet hometown." Personal desire
- "He stared across the harbor with a deep yearning for the open ocean." Poetic expression
Memory hook
YERNing sounds like EARNING — you yearn for what you haven't earned yet. Yearning = An ache that keeps turning in your mind.
When not to use
Do not use for casual, small desires like wanting a snack.
Fun facts
- In Old English, the root word was also linked to eager willingness, not just sadness.
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.