desire
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment.
a desire for fame.
- Synonyms:
- thirst, appetite, hunger, aspiration
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an expressed wish; request.
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something desired.
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sexual appetite or a sexual urge.
verb
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to wish or long for; crave; want
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to express a wish or make a request for; ask for
noun
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a wish or longing; craving
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an expressed wish; request
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sexual appetite; lust
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a person or thing that is desired
Usage
What are other ways to say desire? To desire something or someone is to crave or long for them. How is desire different from want and wish? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Synonym Usage
Desire, craving, longing, yearning suggest feelings that impel one to the attainment or possession of something. Desire is a strong feeling, worthy or unworthy, that impels to the attainment or possession of something that is (in reality or imagination) within reach: a desire for success. Craving implies a deep and imperative wish for something, based on a sense of need and hunger: a craving for food, companionship. A longing is an intense wish, generally repeated or enduring, for something that is at the moment beyond reach but may be attainable at some future time: a longing to visit Europe. Yearning suggests persistent, uneasy, and sometimes wistful or tender longing: a yearning for one's native land.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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desirednessnoun
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desirernoun
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overdesirenoun
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self-desirenoun
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desirelessadjective
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undesiringadjective
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desiredlyadverb
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desiringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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desiresimple
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desiressimple
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have desiredperfect
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has desiredperfect
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am desiringprogressive
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are desiringprogressive
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is desiringprogressive
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have been desiringperfect progressive
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has been desiringperfect progressive
Past
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desiredsimple
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had desiredperfect
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was desiringprogressive
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were desiringprogressive
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had been desiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of desire
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English desiren, from Old French desirer, from Latin dēsīderāre; see desiderate ( def. )
Explanation
If you're talking about the longings of the heart, use the word desire. When you are studying for a difficult history exam, the desire to be somewhere far away doing something fun might be very strong! Desire can be used as both a noun and a verb. Is your boyfriend your heart's desire? Your parents probably desire your punctual appearance at the dinner table every evening. Desire is usually used not just when you long for any old thing, but for something that is associated with giving great pleasure. Thus, you might want to get an A on a test, but you desire a piece of chocolate cake.
Vocabulary lists containing desire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For those very delights — oh, and the art too, yeah, sure — are why many people still want to go, a desire that watching “The Man Will Burn” will only strengthen.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
“They have a desire to test red lines and see if they can set new ones,” said Baron at the New America think tank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But he says he had a very happy childhood, and had never harboured any desire to track down his birth mother.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
In Buddhism, bodhicitta is, essentially, a desire to attain enlightenment in order to free all beings from suffering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Reams of ‘work-sheets’ were destroyed in the desire not to bury completely all posterity under a mammoth paper mausoleum,” she later joked.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
He desires respectability, but savors the buzz, the camaraderie — the honor among thieves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
None of this is to say that there isn’t merit in a filmmaker, particularly one of Nolan’s stature, wanting to explore their artistic desires.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Man’s eternal anguish about understanding his gods’ desires provides a solemn core.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
When the national mood wobbles, we turn to the arts, which have the power to free buried desires, soothe souls and cross divides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
His desires had moved to motorcycles and cars, but Lupita could see that the glamorous charro still held a place in his heart.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
Don’t use your sous-vide bath, should you be so fortunate as to have one, cooking the steak for hours until it reaches the desired temperature and then finishing with a quick sear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The models were doing exactly what they were supposed to do: going for the desired result with 100% effort, in the way it deemed most efficient.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
In other words, the detector may be able to select the desired events while rejecting many unrelated signals.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
For everyday investors, the risk here is that diversifying away from the U.S. might not be having its desired effect.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
She had successfully made Pasiphaë see what she most desired.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Huckabee reportedly told embassy staff in an email there was "no need to panic, but for those desiring to leave, it's important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later".
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
The motivations for septuagenarian entrepreneurs include desiring autonomy, pursuing meaningful projects and addressing societal needs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025
“Being pregnant, desiring pregnancy, and parenting your children does not absolve you from being at risk of criminalization,” Perritt told Salon in a phone interview.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2024
She had a predilection for painting women as modern, urban, desiring.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
We’ve talked about it before, of course, how Vivi thinks we’re stupid for not being able to resist the intensity of Faerie, for desiring to stay in a place of such danger.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.