desirable

American  

[dih-zahyuhr-uh-buhl] / dɪˈzaɪər ə bəl /

adjective

1. worth having or wanting; pleasing, excellent, or fine.

   a desirable apartment.

2. arousing desire or longing.

   a desirable man or woman.

3. advisable; recommendable.

   a desirable law.

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noun

1. a person or thing that is desirable.

desirable British  

/ dɪˈzaɪərəbəl /

adjective

1. worthy of desire or recommendation

   a desirable residence

2. arousing desire, esp sexual desire; attractive

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noun

1. a person or thing that is the object of desire

Other Word Forms

• desirability noun
• desirableness noun
• desirably adverb

Etymology

Origin of desirable

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French; equivalent to desire + -able

Example Sentences

The county is gradually moving workers into the 55-story skyscraper at the base of Bunker Hill that was widely considered one of the city’s most desirable office buildings when it was completed in 1991.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

But desirable homes are selling quickly, and they are unwilling to buy with home prices and mortgage rates as high as they are, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

That included the $55 billion purchase of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019 that substantially increased Occidental’s U.S. production, boosting its exposure in the desirable Permian basin region of Texas.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

“Privately set behind gates on one of Longridge Estates’ most desirable streets, this corner-lot residence offers both scale and warmth,” the listing read.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026

Neither of these returnings was very pleasant or desirable: no magnet drew me to a given point, increasing in its strength of attraction the nearer I came.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Related Words

• acceptable
• beneficial
• enviable
• expedient
• gratifying
• helpful
• preferable
• profitable
• useful
• worthwhile