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sehnsüchtig

longing, yearning

adjective ZAY-nzuekh-tikh Rare
Descriptions & Qualities Personality

Also means

wistfully desirous

Usage Note

sehnsüchtig describes a deep, melancholic longing for something absent — a place, a person, or a past time. From Sehnsucht (longing, yearning), one of the great untranslatable German emotional concepts. Used in literature and everyday speech: sehnsüchtig warten — to wait with longing.

Examples

"Sie schaute sehnsüchtig aus dem Fenster und dachte an die Sommerferien in der Heimat."

Natural Translation

She gazed longingly out of the window, thinking of the summer holidays back home.

Literal Translation

She looked longingly out the window and thought of the summer-holidays in the homeland.

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