desiderate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of desiderate
1635–45; < Latin dēsīderātus (past participle of dēsīderāre to long for, require), equivalent to dē- de- + sīder- (stem of sīdus ) heavenly body, constellation + -ātus -ate 1
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.
Archimedes might desiderate a place to stand on before he could bring his lever into play; I would move the world, self-poised.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 55, May, 1862 by Various
But what more comfort could a man desiderate than is given by the Holy Spirit?
From The Doctrines of Predestination, Reprobation, and Election by Wallace, Robert
It seemed also, owing to its height, to desiderate wings, but there were none.
From Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Part 2: More Ghost Stories by James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes)
And tenderness, too—but does that appear a mawkish thing to desiderate in life?
From Modern Essays by Ayres, Harry Morgan
Both desiderate a world which is not now, musing with fierce bitterness or cold resignation upon that which was once but is no longer.
From The Origins and Destiny of Imperial Britain Nineteenth Century Europe by Cramb, J. A. (John Adam)
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.