They looked with longing toward freedom.
She cast a look of longing at the shop window.
She never told anyone about her secret longings.
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In Possession, longing is mirrored between two timelines.—Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026 At the close of the Passover seder, and at the end of Yom Kippur, Jews declare their longing to return.—Rabbi Tuvia Brander, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2026 But eventually, the anger ebbed; replaced by an all-too-familiar ache of grief laced with longing.—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 28 Mar. 2026 What could have been a straightforward suburban critique is instead closer to a rich, deep baroque painting capturing longing, power, and hushed domestic drama.—Vanity Fair, 26 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for longing
Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of longing was
before the 12th century