Did you know?
Although yen suggests no more than a strong desire these days (as in "a yen for a beach vacation"), at one time someone with a yen was in deep trouble: the first meaning of yen was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from Cantonese yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning "opium," and yáhn, "craving." In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen.
Examples of yen in a Sentence
Noun (2)
I have a strange yen to take the day off from work
Verb
what car lover doesn't yen for a new car at the start of every model year
Recent Examples on the Web
Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
Chicago Tribune Oil prices fell more than 4% and the U.S. dollar hit its lowest level against the Japanese yen since early October.
—Elaine Kurtenbach, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025
Average individual spending among overseas travelers to Japan rose by 6.8% to 227,000 yen.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Mar. 2025
The Japanese yen reached its strongest in five months against the dollar before giving up gains to trade flat at 147.2.
—Reuters, NBC News, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for yen
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The Nintendo Switch 2 Multi-Language System, which is the same model as will be available in the rest of the world, has an MSRP of 69,980 yen and will only be available on the My Nintendo Store in Japan.
—Cite this Entry
“Yen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yen. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share