Yawning

//ˈjɔːnɪŋ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The action of the verb yawn. countable, uncountable

    "Her vivacity appeared as graceful as it was buoyant; her gay spirit seemed the musical overflowings of youth and happiness; her eye and cheek brightened together; and her sweet glad laugh was as catching as yawning."

  2. 2
    an involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue or boredom wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of yawn form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    That yawns or yawn.

    "yawning commuters"

  2. 2
    Wide open. figuratively

    "a yawning chasm; the shark's yawning jaws"

Adjective
  1. 1
    showing lack of attention or boredom wordnet
  2. 2
    gaping open as if threatening to engulf someone or something wordnet
  3. 3
    with the mouth wide open indicating boredom or sleepiness wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
oscitantyawnabysmalabyssalagapeajar

Example

More examples

"You should have seen yourself, yawning all through the meeting."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.