Desire: Definition, Usage & Example Sentences

Meaning 1：long for (desire)

desire 🔊

/dɪˈzaɪər/

to want something so much that you can almost feel it.

Desire illustrated by a child longing for a toy in a store window, showing intense emotional want.

long for 🔊

➕

/ˌlɔːŋ ˈfɔːr/

To have a strong feeling of wanting or wishing for something, often with deep emotional involvement.

📁 Category：Space Exploration 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'de-' (down from, concerning) + 'sider-' (star). Literally 'to cease to see the stars', originally a lament for what is absent.

💡 Mnemonic

De-SIRE: The 'sire' (like a king) inside you demands it. Think of a deep, burning fire (sire sounds like fire) of want.

📖 Example

Many astronauts desire to explore Mars and see its surface with their own eyes. 🔊 A great number of space explorers long for the chance to investigate Mars and observe its terrain personally.

🔗 Collocations

deeply desire – To want something with great intensity and emotion.

desire passionately – To want something with very strong, uncontrollable emotion.

sincerely desire – To want something in a genuine and heartfelt way.

🔄 Synonyms

yearn (v.) – To have an intense feeling of longing for something, often with a sense of sadness or tenderness.

crave (v.) – To have a very strong desire for something, often a physical or emotional need.

covet (v.) – To yearn to possess something, especially something belonging to another person.

🚫 Antonyms

disdain (v.) – To consider something unworthy of one's consideration; to reject with contempt.

detest (v.) – To dislike something intensely; to hate.

reject (v.) – To refuse to accept, consider, or make use of something.

🌱 Derivatives

desirable (adj.) – Worth having or wanting; attractive or advantageous.

desirous (adj.) – Having or characterized by desire; wanting.

📖 Cultural Story

From Latin 'desiderare', meaning 'to long for, wish for; demand, expect', possibly from the original sense 'to await what the stars will bring', as the stars were seen as portents. The word evolved in Middle English to denote a strong feeling of wanting.