yearn
Use Yearn in a sentence
verb (used without object)
1.
to have an earnest or strong desire; long: to yearn for a quiet vacation.
2.
to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted: They yearned over their delicate child.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English yernen, Old English giernan derivative of georn eager; akin to Old Norse girna to desire, Greek chaírein to rejoice, Sanskrit háryati (he) desires
before 900; Middle English yernen, Old English giernan derivative of georn eager; akin to Old Norse girna to desire, Greek chaírein to rejoice, Sanskrit háryati (he) desires
Related forms
yearn·er, noun
un·yearned, adjective
Synonyms
1. Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something. Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire: to yearn to get away and begin a new life; to yearn desperately for recognition. Long implies a wholehearted desire for something that is or seems unattainable: to long to relive one's childhood; to long for the warmth of summer. Hanker suggests a restless or incessant craving to fulfill some urge or desire: to hanker for a promotion; to hanker after fame and fortune. Pine adds the notion of physical or emotional suffering as a result of the real or apparent hopelessness of one's desire: to pine for one's native land; to pine for a lost love.
1. Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something. Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire: to yearn to get away and begin a new life; to yearn desperately for recognition. Long implies a wholehearted desire for something that is or seems unattainable: to long to relive one's childhood; to long for the warmth of summer. Hanker suggests a restless or incessant craving to fulfill some urge or desire: to hanker for a promotion; to hanker after fame and fortune. Pine adds the notion of physical or emotional suffering as a result of the real or apparent hopelessness of one's desire: to pine for one's native land; to pine for a lost love.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To yearn
00:10
Yearn
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
yearn (jɜːn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb (usually foll by for | |
| 1. | to have an intense desire or longing (for); pine (for) |
| 2. | to feel tenderness or affection |
| [Old English giernan; related to Old Saxon girnian, Old Norse girna, Gothic gairnjan, Old High German gerōn to long for, Sanskrit haryati he likes] | |
| 'yearner | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
yearn
O.E. geornan (Mercian), giernan (W.Saxon), giorna (Northumbrian), from P.Gmc. *gernijanan (cf. Goth. gairnjan "to desire," Ger. begehren "to desire"), from base *gernaz (cf. O.H.G. gern, O.N. gjarn "desirous," O.E. georn "eager, desirous," Ger. gern "gladly, willingly"), from PIE base *gher- "to like,
want" (see hortatory).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The students yearn for more, though some students don't buy it, thanks to some kind of bias against anything not indigenous.
It's all lovely stuff-but it's that spaghetti with tomato sauce that you'll yearn to come back for.
They yearn for public support for the troops, not sympathy, and fret about a debilitating focus on individual losses.
Artists often yearn for color precisely during those moments when real life denies it to them.
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