Word
yearning
Phoneticsyearn·ing, stress on the first syllable
US/ˈjɝnɪŋ/
UK/jˈɜːnɪŋ/
Countable & uncountable
Definition
n. a very strong feeling of wanting something or someone that is far away or hard to get. It is deeper and more emotional than just wanting something.
n. a persistent, intense, and often melancholy desire for something unattainable or distant. Frequently carries a nostalgic or spiritual connotation.
Examples
“She felt a deep yearning for her childhood home.”
“After years of living in the crowded city, he felt a constant yearning for the quiet of the countryside.”
“The protagonist's journey is driven by a profound yearning for a sense of belonging that his fractured family history has always denied him.”
Examples
simple
“She felt a deep yearning for her childhood home.”
contextual
“After years of living in the crowded city, he felt a constant yearning for the quiet of the countryside.”
complex
“The protagonist's journey is driven by a profound yearning for a sense of belonging that his fractured family history has always denied him.”
Usage
Often followed by the preposition 'for' or an infinitive 'to' clause.
Real-World Examples
“The yearning for public, live music was deeper than many of us could have expected.” “As a young aesthete, Draper’s Rimbaud sports floppy long hair (very different from the spiky short cut from the famous portrait photo) and he declaims his poetic yearnings while lounging and preening and pouting.” Etymology
From Middle English yerning, from Old English ġierning, ġierninge. Equivalent to the gerund (yearn + -ing). yearn comes from Proto-West Germanic girnijan, from Proto-Germanic girnijaną, from gernaz (“eager, willing”) + -janą, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”). By surface analysis, yearn + -ing.
PIE word *ḱóm From earlier yerning, from Middle English yernyng, erning, renning. From Old English rynning and gerunnen, geurnen (“run together, coagulated, curdled”), past participles of gerinnan, geirnan, respectively. Influenced by Middle English yern (“to (cause to) coagulate or curdle”), Old English iernan (“to run, flow”), metathesized forms derived from the same origin. From verbal prefix ge- + rinnan (“to run”). First element is from Proto-West Germanic ga-, from Proto-Germanic ga-, from Proto-Indo-European ḱóm (“with, by”); second element is from Proto-Germanic rinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European h₃r̥-néw-ti, from h₃er- (“to move”). Doublet of rennet, run.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
VERB
NOUN
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated
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englishreference.com/q/yearning