yearn

Synonym Chooser

How is the word yearn distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of yearn are hanker, hunger, long, pine, and thirst. While all these words mean "to have a strong desire for something," yearn suggests an eager, restless, or painful longing.

yearned for a stage career

Where would hanker be a reasonable alternative to yearn?

The synonyms hanker and yearn are sometimes interchangeable, but hanker suggests the uneasy promptings of unsatisfied appetite or desire.

always hankering for money

How are the words hunger and thirst related as synonyms of yearn?

Both hunger and thirst imply an insistent or impatient craving or a compelling need.

hungered for a business of his own
thirsted for power

When could long be used to replace yearn?

Although the words long and yearn have much in common, long implies a wishing with one's whole heart and often a striving to attain.

longed for some rest

When might pine be a better fit than yearn?

The words pine and yearn can be used in similar contexts, but pine implies a languishing or a fruitless longing for what is impossible.

pined for a lost love

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of yearn Increasingly, professionals in midlife are yearning—some by choice, others from necessity—for reinvention. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025 There’s also this timeless, yearning quality to your work in Journey. August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025 Our brains and bodies yearn for collective effervescence. Florence Williams, Outside Online, 11 May 2025 Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon play the mom and dad of a wealthy family holed up in a posh bunker in a salt mine, George MacKay plays their son who yearns to know about the inhospitable outside world, and Moses Ingram is the stranger who changes everything. Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for yearn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yearn
Verb
  • The characters might be different, but several of Jia’s films do tackle long swaths of recent Chinese history, with people longing across decades.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 17 May 2025
  • Going to, coming from and longing for Kansas City are common themes in the odes to our town.
    Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 11 May 2025
Verb
  • Parts read like a narrative, other parts sound like a letter to the husband, sometimes explanatory, sometimes apologetic, sometimes pining.
    The Know, Denver Post, 18 May 2025
  • Songs that should blaze by are sluggish while tunes that should pine and linger are sped through.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Yearn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yearn. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

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