desireverb [ T not continuous ]
uk/dɪˈzaɪər/us/dɪˈzaɪr/formaldesire verb [ T not continuous ] (WANT)
C1 to want something, especially strongly:
I desire only to be left in peace.
The hotel had everything you could possibly desire.
What does her Ladyship desire me to do/desire of me?
[ + to infinitive ] The president desires to meet the new prime minister.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Wanting things
- ache for sth
- acquisitive
- ambitious
- angle
- angle for sth
- aspirant
- burn
- fancy
- finger
- hanker after/for sth
- have your eye on sth idiom
- hunger
- hunger after/for sth
- hungry
- shook
- sight
- sth is calling you idiom
- straw
- tempt
- think big idiom
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desire verb [ T not continuous ] (SEXUAL)
to have a strong sexual attraction to someone
Idiom(s)
sb's heart's desire
desirenoun
uk/dɪˈzaɪər/us/dɪˈzaɪr/desire noun (WANT)
B2 [ C or U ] a strong feeling that you want something:
I certainly have no desire to have children.
There is a strong desire for peace among the people.
He needed to satisfy his desire for revenge.
[ + to infinitive ] She had a burning/strong desire to go back to her home country before she died.
Several people have expressed a desire to see the report.
More examples
- The team were goaded on by their desire to be first to complete the course.
- He is genuinely motivated by a desire to help people.
- She felt an overwhelming desire to tell someone about what had happened.
- He repressed a sudden desire to cry.
- His desire for political power apparently knows no bounds.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Feelings of desire
- appetite
- caprice
- compulsion
- covetous
- craving
- dream
- drive
- get itchy feet idiom
- hunger
- impulse buy
- inclination
- longing
- lust
- need
- urge
- vaulting
- whim
- wish
- yearning
- yen
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desire noun (SEXUAL NEED)
[ U ] formal the strong feeling that you want to have sex with someone:
sexual desire
Beatrice was the object of Dante's desire.