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Glite Dictionary
to pine for

to pine for

17 6.7
To feel very sad and want someone or something a lot
  • phrasal verb
  • /paɪn fɔr/
translation icon : añorar
  • Or does he pine for grander things?

Did you ever pine for the good old days when computers had character?

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Examples

  • After their breakup, she often pined for the love they once shared.

  • Oh, and George, that America you were pining for has become a nation of greed!

    Blog text (12)

  • Why did I still pine for a woman who no longer loved me?

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Did you ever pine for the good old days when computers had character?

    Linus Tech Tips

  • I think of her; she spent her whole life pining for her first love.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • And besides, a man can't pine for a lost love for ever.

    North to Alaska (1960)

  • Even if he reaches it, he goes on pining for it.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Perhaps if she had, he wouldn't have pined for her so much.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Karen is pining for the French countryside while sitting at the picnic table.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Now that baseball season is over, you might be pining for winter-long reminders of America's pastime.

    Blog text (15)

Synonyms

to desire
vsto pine for
446 1.6

To want something very much

is a deep, often sad longing rather than a simple strong want
to yearn
vsto pine for
92 4.9

To want something very much when you cannot have it

is often felt with sadness rather than simply from difficulty to obtain
to pine
vsto pine for
37 8.2

To miss someone or something very much because they are not with you

is often accompanied by sadness, giving the feeling a mournful tone
to ache
vsto pine for
18 4.2

To feel a strong longing for someone or something far away

is often mixed with sadness rather than only being intense want
to thirst
vsto pine for
8 5.2

To have a strong wish for something

is an emotional sorrowful longing rather than a figurative craving or need
to hanker
vsto pine for
5 7.4

To want something very much for a long time

is more often sad and emotional rather than merely a long preference
to languish
vsto pine for
  • Literature
1 7.7

To miss someone or something a lot when they are far away

is usually experienced with sadness rather than only as a quiet state
craved
vsto pine for
3.9

Having a very strong desire for something

is the feeling of deep sad longing rather than the state of being desired

Antonyms

indifferent
46 4.4

Not interested or showing no strong feeling about something

contented
7 2.0

Feeling happy and satisfied with what you have

How Longing

to ache
18 4.2
to yearn
92 4.9
to pine for
17 6.7
to long
114 4.5
to miss
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

pine for infinitive
pined for past
pined for past participle
pining for present participle
pines for third person singular

Morphology

pine + for

The verb 'pine' already means 'to yearn intensely,' and the preposition 'for' simply marks the object of that yearning, so a learner who knows both constituents can derive the full meaning. This verb + preposition combination follows a straightforward compositional pattern found across languages, with no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, making it immediately interpretable.

Etymology

Pine for may come from an older use of pine that meant to waste away from sadness, like a lone pine tree slowly losing its needles. So, to pine for someone is to feel a quiet, deep longing or 'miss' them.