Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting maize production in China. Long non-coding RNAs （lncRNAs） play crucial roles in plant responses to various abiotic stresses， including drought. This study revealed that the inbred line H082183 exhibited significantly higher relative water content than Lv28 under moderate drought stresses at the seeding stage， indicating superior drought resistance in H082183. RNA-seq analysis identified 56 and 91 drought-responsive differentially expressed lncRNAs distinguishing Lv28 and H082183 under moderate and severe drought stress， respectively. Gene Ontology （GO） enrichment analysis highlighted drought resistant associated terms， including stress response， dehydration adaptation， and ABA signaling pathways. Key lncRNAs and lncRNA-target genes involved in drought resistance were identified： TCONS_00065324， targeting ASR3， potentially mediating ABA-dependent signal transduction； TCONS_00045452 and TCONS_00081959， targeting Zm00001d023336 and Zm00001d043368， encoding a WRKY and a TCP transcription factor， respectively； TCONS_00023643， TCONS_00095153， TCONS_00211191 and TCONS_00160812， targeting genes encoding functional proteins associated with molecular chaperones， wax biosynthesis enzymes， and LEA （Late Embryogenesis Abundant） proteins. These lncRNAs and their corresponding target genes will serve as promising candidate genes for drought resistance in further study.