How do you use the word "yearn" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "yearn": People everywhere yearn for public leaders dedicated to world peace. I yearn for victory.

Yearn Meaning

/jɜːn/

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.

verbTo have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something., To long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia.

Sentence Examples

People everywhere yearn for public leaders dedicated to world peace.

I yearn for victory.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

long ache pine

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

After living abroad for years, she began to ____ for her home country's food.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

I often ____ for the quiet and peaceful life of the countryside, away from the city noise.

Word Origin & History

The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (“to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for”) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (“to desire, yearn; to beg”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (“to be eager for, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (“to desire, want”), from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives). The noun is derived from the verb.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"I muſt do that my heart-ſtrings yern to do: but my word's paſt." — c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene iv, page 56, column 2:

"You are now before my eyes, my eyes that are ready to flow with tenderness, but cannot give relief to my gushing heart, that dictates what I am now saying, and yearns to tell you all its achings." — 1711 August 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, August 13, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 142; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 243:

"By morning's cheerful glow, but oftener still by evening's gentle light, the child, with a respect for the short and happy intercourse of these two sisters which forbade her to approach and say a thankful word, although she yearned to do so, followed them at a distance in their walks and rambles, […]" — 1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Thirty-second”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 274:

"What his soul yearned after was control of his father's newly purchased sailing-ship." — 1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, chapter X, in “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, →OCLC, page 298:

"And Jim supported his twitching body by holding on to the sink, the while he yearned toward the yellowish concoction that stood for life." — 1911 January, Jack London, “Just Meat”, in When God Laughs and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 125:

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