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Synonyms

lust

American  
[luhst] / lʌst /

noun

  1. intense sexual desire or appetite.

  2. uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.

  3. a passionate or overmastering desire or craving (usually followed byfor ).

    a lust for power.

  4. ardent enthusiasm; zest; relish.

    an enviable lust for life.

  5. Obsolete.

    1. pleasure or delight.

    2. desire; inclination; wish.

verb (used without object)

  1. to have intense sexual desire.

  2. to have a yearning or desire; have a strong or excessive craving (often followed by for orafter ).

    Synonyms:
    yearn, covet, hunger, crave
lust British  
/ lʌst /

noun

  1. a strong desire for sexual gratification

  2. a strong desire or drive

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (intr; often foll by after or for) to have a lust (for)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • unlusting adjective

Etymology

Origin of lust

First recorded before 900; Middle English luste, Old English lust; cognate with Dutch, German Lust “pleasure, desire”; akin to Old Norse lyst “desire”; see list 4

Explanation

Lust is a strong craving for sex. It also can mean a hunger for anything, like lust for power. While lust isn't a dirty word, it is a strong word. You don't have lust for something you don't really care about. Lust is a strong, powerful desire, whether it's a noun or verb: you lust for things you deeply crave. Someone greedy lusts for money. Someone gluttonous lusts for food. The most basic meaning of lust is an unquenchable desire for sex, but people lust for all sorts of things.

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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.

Releasing sterilized males involves no pesticides, and also leverages the insect’s biology: Males in lust are adept at finding females.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2026

“The real evils in war,” St. Augustine once wrote, are “love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025

He no doubt hoped that this lust would be satiated when the FBI arrested a substitute older white lady, Judge Hannah Dugan of Wisconsin, on iffy-sounding charges of "obstruction."

From Salon • Apr. 30, 2025

The Viennese fondness for him may well be that, in his exuberance, he lets them live it up, even when that might mean chipping the china a little in his lust for splashy spectacle.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2025

Grief ran after it with such lust that he smashed into a cupboard.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.