Longing
/ˈlɒŋɪŋ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA strong, lasting desire for someone or something.
Extra definitions
nounA deep feeling of wanting someone or something.
nounA persistent unsatisfied wish.
verbpresent participle and gerund of long
Sentence Examples
He felt a longing for home.
Her longing to travel grew stronger.
The song expresses a longing for freedom.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
None
Word Origin & History
From Middle English longynge, langynge, langand, from Old English langiende, from Proto-Germanic *langōndz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), equivalent to long + -ing (present participle ending).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
“all natural lovings and longings”
— 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 132, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
“For round the valley a great desert lies through which no common traveller may come, but those whom the gods have chosen feel suddenly a great longing at heart, and crossing the mountains that divide the desert from the world, set out across it driven by the gods, […]”
— 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 2:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
He felt a ____ for home.