Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for desire. Search instead for desipra.
Definitions

desire

[dih-zahyuhr] / dɪˈzaɪər /




VERB
ask, request
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONG
WEAK
not want


Usage

What are other ways to say desire? Desire, a formal verb, suggests a strong wish: They desire liberation. Wish implies the feeling of an impulse toward attainment or possession of something; the strength of the feeling may be of greater or lesser intensity: I wish I could go home. Want, usually colloquial in use, suggests a feeling of lack or need that imperatively demands fulfillment: People all over the world want peace.

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.

Cynthia, the object of his desire, had enormous hair of her own, which she teased into a plume.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

Throughout history, he added, the Christian mission “has not infrequently been distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

US President Donald Trump has long signalled a desire to increase the defence budget and boost domestic defence manufacturing.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

The president is still signaling a desire to end the campaign against Iran in two to three weeks.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 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