desire
Syllables: de·sire/dɪˈzaɪə//dɪˈzaɪɹ/
desire verb: to want; to wish for earnestly.
Verb
desire (third-person singular simple present desires, present participle desiring, simple past and past participle desired)
- To want; to wish for earnestly.
- I desire to speak with you.
- Neither shall any man desire thy land.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 34:24
- To put a request to (someone); to entreat.
- And when they founde no cause of deeth in hym, yet desired they Pilate to kyll him.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts
- Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 15
- To want emotionally or sexually.
- She has desired him since they first met.
- To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.
- Then shee said, Did I desire a sonne of my Lord ? did I not say, Doe not deceiue me?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Kings 4:28
- Desire him to go in; trouble him no more.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- To require; to demand; to claim.
- A doleful case desires a doleful song.c. 1580, Edmund Spenser, The Teares of the Muses
- To miss; to regret.
- She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies.1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC
Noun
desire (usually uncountable, plural desires)
- The feeling of desiring; an eager longing for something.
- Too much desire can seriously affect one’s judgement.
- He stood...filled with the desire that his son should be like him, and should have sons like him, to people the earth. It is the strongest desire that can come to a man - if it comes to him at all - stronger even than love or the desire for personal immortality.1905, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 7, in Where Angels Fear to Tread, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC
- Someone or something wished for.
- It is my desire to speak with you.
- You’re my heart’s desire.
- Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.
- His desire for her kept him awake at night.
- Doesn't my body drive you wild with desire?1972, Jay Presson Allen, Cabaret, spoken by Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli)
- Motivation.
desire meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
desire in Hindi
- wish for earnestly
- इच्छा icchā, चाह cāh, कामना kāmnā, अभिलाषा abhilāṣā
- want emotionally or sexually
- कामना kāmnā, वासना vāsnā
- feeling of desire
- कामना kāmnā
- something wished for
- कामना kāmnā, आकांक्षा ākāṅkṣā, इच्छा icchā, चाह cāh, ख़्वाहिश xvāhiś, चाहत cāhat
desire in Tamil
- wish for earnestly
- ஆசைப்படு ācaippaṭu
- feeling of desire
- விருப்பம் viruppam, ஆசை ācai
- something wished for
- ஆசை ācai
desire in Marathi
- wish for earnestly
- इच्छा icchā
- something wished for
- ईच्छा īcchā
desire in Urdu
- feeling of desire
- چاہت cāhat
- something wished for
- خواہش xvāhiś, تمنا tamannā
- strong attraction
- چاہت cāhat
More languagesFewer languages
- desire in Bengali
- ইচ্ছা iccha, তামান্না tamanna, আরজু arju, আরমান arman
- desire in Telugu
- ఆశ āśa, కోరిక kōrika, ఇచ్చ icca, అపేక్ష apēkṣa
- desire in Malayalam
- ആഗ്രഹിക്കുക āgrahikkuka, മോഹം mōhaṁ, ആഗ്രഹം āgrahaṁ
- desire in Kannada
- ಬಯಕೆ bayake, ಹಂಬಲ hambala, ಡಿಸೈರ್ ḍisair
- desire in Punjabi
- ਚਾਹ cāh, چاہ cāh, ਆਰਜ਼ੂ ārazū, سدھر saddhar
- desire in Gujarati
- ઇચ્છવું icchavũ, કામ kām, મનીષા manīṣā, મન man
- desire in Odia
- ସନ୍ଦିଶା Sandiṡā
- desire in Sanskrit
- गृध्यति gṛdhyati, लषति laṣati, तृष्णा tṛṣṇā, वनस् vanas
- desire in Sinhala
- දොළ doḷa
- desire in Arabic
- رَغِبَ raḡiba, رَغْبَة raḡba
- desire in Malay
- keinginan, hasrat, nafsu
- desire in Indonesian
- hasrat, keinginan, kemauan, kehendak
- desire in Persian
- خواستن xâstan, آرزو کردن ârezu kardan, خواهش xâheš, کام kâm
- desire in Thai
- ต้องการ dtɔ̂ng-gaan, ประสงค์ bprà-sǒng, ปรารถนา bpràattànăa, ความใคร่ kwaam-krâi
- desire in Vietnamese
- mong muốn
- desire in Myanmar
- မက် mak
Examples of desire in a sentence
- The body is driven by desires, but the soul is at peace.
- Why leave it to chance when a few simple steps will secure the desired outcome?
- For Freudians, libido means the desire to "unite and bind" with objects in the world.
Synonyms of desire
17 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of desire
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | desires |
| present participle | desiring |
| past participle | desired |
| past | desired |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | desirest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | desiredst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | desireth |
| Noun | |
| plural | desires |
Origin of desire
From Middle English desir, desire (noun) and desiren (verb), from Old French desirer, desirrer, from Latin dēsīderō (“to long for, desire, feel the want of, miss, regret”), apparently from de- + sidus (in the phrase de sidere, "from the stars") in connection with astrological hopes. Compare consider and desiderate. The verb, along with Old Norse derived want (verb), has mostly replaced native will in modern English.
Words formed from desire
- desired effect
- desiring-production
- desirive
- leave a lot to be desired
- leave much to be desired
- leave something to be desired
- alphabet of desire
- baptism of desire
- counterdesire
- desirably
- desireful
- desireless
- desire line
- desirement
- desire path
- heart's desire
- mimetic desire
- misdesire
- nondesire
- to a desire
- undesire
Phrases with desire
Words that rhyme with desire
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- choir
- esquire
- inspire
- tire
- acquire
- admire
- dire
- empire
- respire
- sire
- transpire
- trier
- dryer
- friar
- fryer
- gyre
- lyre
- mire
- misfire
- require
- underfire
- aspire
- bemire
- buyer
- conspire
- inquire
- overfire
- perspire
- quire
- tyre
- attire
- briar
- crier
- higher
- lier
- overtire
- Pryor
- pyre
- re-retire
- retrochoir
- rewire
- supplier
- suspire
- underwire
- unretire
- afire
- byre
- drier
Questions about desire
- What does desire mean?
- Desire means to want; to wish for earnestly.
- What is desire in Hindi?
- Desire in Hindi is इच्छा (icchā), चाह (cāh), कामना (kāmnā). See Desire meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is desire?
- Desire can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce desire?
- Desire is pronounced /dɪˈzaɪə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of desire?
- The past tense of desire is desired.
Words near desire in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: desire (page history and authors); تانگھ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); અરમાન (Gujarati) (page history and authors); දොළ (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-desire.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-desire.wav.
Cite this entry: “desire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/desire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.