: a tender or urgent longing
a yearning for justice
Examples of yearning in a Sentence
had a sudden yearning for something sweet
Recent Examples on the Web
Springsteen yearns for his father’s approval; that yearning leads to the most powerful moment in the movie, when past and present collide.
—
Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Oct. 2025
There is a specific kind of yearning involved in having a crush, one that feels intense, yet is for the most part harmless fun; still, as people grow older the frequency of such infatuations often decreases.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
The breathless discussion about that photograph felt almost like a yearning for the past, when consensus could be built through celluloid.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
For roughly the first half, the songs are held together by a sort of yearning — for a person, for the open road, or for the idea of freedom.
—Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for yearning
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Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Oct. 2025
There is a specific kind of yearning involved in having a crush, one that feels intense, yet is for the most part harmless fun; still, as people grow older the frequency of such infatuations often decreases.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
The breathless discussion about that photograph felt almost like a yearning for the past, when consensus could be built through celluloid.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
For roughly the first half, the songs are held together by a sort of yearning — for a person, for the open road, or for the idea of freedom.
—Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for yearning
Cite this Entry
“Yearning.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yearning. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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