yearn
/jə:n/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To have a strong, often melancholic, desire for something or someone: This is the core meaning, indicating a deep, persistent longing, typically for something unattainable, absent, or lost.
- To feel tenderness or affection for someone: A less common but valid meaning, indicating a feeling of compassionate love or pity.
Usage
- Yearn is an intransitive verb and is almost always followed by the prepositions for, after, or to (infinitive).
- It describes an emotional state that is intense, heartfelt, and often accompanied by a sense of sadness or nostalgia.
- Common Patterns:
to yearn for [something/someone]to yearn after [something](more literary)to yearn to [do something]
Examples
- Yearn for:
- After moving to the city, she began to yearn for the quiet countryside of her childhood.
- He yearned for a sense of purpose in his life.
- Yearn to:
- I yearn to see my family again after all these years.
- She yearned to travel the world and experience different cultures.
- Yearn towards (indicating affection):
- Her heart yearned towards the lonely old man. (This usage is now rare and literary.)
Advanced Usage
- "to yearn after": This is a more poetic or archaic form, synonymous with "yearn for."
- The poet yearned after a simpler, bygone era.
- The feeling of yearning is often associated with romantic love, homeland, a past time, or an idealized future.
Variants and Related Words
- Yearning (n): A deep, persistent longing or desire.
- A deep yearning for connection is a universal human experience.
- Yearner (n): One who yearns (rarely used).
- Yearnful (adj): Full of yearning (literary).
Synonyms
- Long: To have a strong wish or desire.
- Pine: To suffer a mental and physical decline, especially because of a broken heart or longing (often ).
- Ache: To feel a continuous, dull emotional pain of desire (often ).
- Hanker: To have a restless or constant desire (often ).
- Crave: To have a very strong desire for something.
Antonyms
- Despise: To feel contempt or a deep repugnance for.
- Dislike: To regard with distaste or aversion.
- Abhor: To regard with extreme repugnance or aversion.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "Yearn for the past": To have a strong, nostalgic desire for times gone by.
- As he grew older, he would often yearn for the past.
- "A yearning heart": A heart filled with deep longing.
- She wrote letters with a yearning heart, hoping for his return.
Verb
- have affection for; feel tenderness for
- have a desire for something or someone who is not present
- She ached for a cigarette
- I am pining for my lover
- desire strongly or persistently