Craving

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkɹeɪ.vɪŋ/

Definitions

1. A strong desire or longing for something, which can refer to a specific food or experience, and may also denote an intense emotional or psychological need
2. An intense and often persistent yearning for a particular item or experience, which encapsulates both physical hunger and deeper emotional wants
3. A profound and sometimes overwhelming inclination toward a desired object or feeling, reflecting both a bodily urge and an emotional necessity

Etymology: The noun "craving" is a plain product of English word-building: the verb "crave" with the suffix "-ing" added to turn the action into a thing you feel. The verb itself comes from Old English "crafian," which meant to ask for something, to demand or claim it, and this older sense of a formal request still lies underneath the modern one. Middle English later produced "cravinge" from it, so the noun has been in use in English for many centuries, though its exact first recorded appearance is not something this account can pin down. The shift from demanding to desiring is the notable part. A craving began as an assertive claim on something owed or wanted, and only gradually softened into the inner pull we now describe with the word. The modern sense, which covers both bodily hunger and deeper emotional longing, grew out of that older idea of asking for what one is entitled to.

Synonyms: desire, longing, yearning, hunger, thirst

Antonyms: disinterest, aversion, indifference, repulsion, detachment