VocabauraVOCABAURA

desire

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To want; to wish for earnestly.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihzyer

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪˈzaɪɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To want; to wish for earnestly.

  2. To want emotionally or sexually.

  3. To put a request to (someone); to entreat.

  4. To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.

  5. Expect and wish

  6. To require; to demand; to claim.

noun

  1. uncountable

    The feeling of desiring; an eager longing for something.

  2. The feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state

  3. uncountable

    Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.

  4. countable

    Someone or something wished for.

  5. uncountable

    Motivation.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To want; to wish for earnestly.

Used this way, desire is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use desire

  • “She has a strong desire to learn how to play a musical instrument.”verb

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “desire”. We review each one before it appears.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • desirableadjectiveDerived adjective

    Worth having or seeking or achieving.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • desire to knownounCompound term

    Curiosity that motivates investigation and study.

  • sexual desirenounCompound term

    A desire for sexual intimacy.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • desirousadjectiveRelated term

    Having or expressing desire for something.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: feeling of desiring

wanthope

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “desire” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.