yearn Hear it!

yearn Definition

yearn (yʉrn)

intransitive verb

  1. to be filled with longing or desire
  2. to feel tenderness or sympathy

Etymology: ME yernen < OE gyrnan < georn, eager, akin to Ger gern, gladly: see hortatory

yearn Related Forms

yearn′er noun

yearn Synonyms

yearn

v.

want, crave, long for, fret, chafe, ache, grieve, mourn, droop, pine, languish, be eager for, be desirous of, be ardent, be fervent, be passionate, wish for, thirst for, hunger for, aspire to, set one's heart upon, hanker after*, have a yen for*; see also try 1.

Antonyms avoid*, be content, be indifferent.

yearn Usage Examples

Object

heart: Beneath the designer gear my heart yearned for vast horizons, endless gallops, wildness and wilderness.

Preposition: for

  • freedom: Posted by Elsie on 22 January, 2004 at 8:53 AM yearn for freedom.
  • peace: We yearn for peace that is more than the absence of violence - for peace that reflects God's shalom for all creation.
  • something: I yearned for something to give, either to loose my gayness or to find a way of living without God.
  • love: Does your heart yearn for a love lost long ago?
  • return: Nor do we yearn for a return to medieval peasant agriculture.
  • day: In my darker hours, I dream of & yearn for this day to come.

Infinitive complement

  • escape: A girl trapped by her roots yearns to escape back to Majorca to rekindle a doomed holiday romance.
  • know: And I yearn to know what those futures held and how they dealt with them.
  • live: He's a builder and she's a classical composer who now yearns to live by the sea.
  • return: But Nancy's rebellious nature clashes with the Social Register set, and she yearns to return home to a post-Civil War Virginia.
  • see: We humans long have yearned to see our surroundings from the heavens.
  • go: That is where the beleaguered people of the 21st century yearn to go.

Modifying Another Word

  • secretly: Susanna and Karin are loyal to their Aunt, but secretly yearn for much more from life.
  • still: Do her empty arms still yearn for me alone?
  • always: Despite a successful career in private business, Paul Allen always yearned for a return to his public sector roots.
  • all: Prophesy provides the answers we all yearn for in uncertain times.
  • often: While men often yearn for the latest gadgets on their new bike, women want it to look as good as it rides.
  • really: Assuming they do not really yearn to become latter-day Roman legions, many people may be relieved to hear the truth.