yearned

Yearned is the past tense of the verb yearn. It signals a strong, often melancholic longing for something that is difficult to obtain or is no longer present. It can describe longing for people, places, circumstances, or states of being, and is frequently associated with nostalgia, unfulfilled desire, or wistful hope.

The word yearn derives from Old English and related Germanic roots, meaning to desire or long for. Over time its sense expanded from a strong impulse to a sustained feeling of longing, and it remains closely tied to emotional desire rather than mere wish.

Yearned is typically followed by for plus the object of desire (for example, yearned for freedom, yearned for home). It can also appear with a to-infinitive to express longing to perform an action (yearned to travel). In literary use, yearned-for is sometimes hyphenated when used as a modifier (the yearned-for reunion).

Related terms include longing, yearning, crave, desire, and nostalgia.