lust
Americannoun
-
intense sexual desire or appetite.
-
uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.
-
a passionate or overmastering desire or craving (usually followed byfor ).
a lust for power.
-
ardent enthusiasm; zest; relish.
an enviable lust for life.
-
Obsolete.
-
pleasure or delight.
-
desire; inclination; wish.
-
noun
-
a strong desire for sexual gratification
-
a strong desire or drive
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lustsimple
-
lustssimple
-
have lustedperfect
-
has lustedperfect
-
am lustingprogressive
-
are lustingprogressive
-
is lustingprogressive
-
have been lustingperfect progressive
-
has been lustingperfect progressive
Past
-
lustedsimple
-
had lustedperfect
-
was lustingprogressive
-
were lustingprogressive
-
had been lustingperfect progressive
Future
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.
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.
See Examples For:
Superagent and WME Group executive chairman Ari Emanuel’s lust for upside is the stuff of legend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
The court heard how Noah had "a lust for life and learning" and "a thirst for knowledge".
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Hopefully the generation of Gen Z musicians depicted in the film still lust over the chance to try, even as a wretched economy makes road-dogging harder today while digital fame beckons instead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Most of the unhappy denizens of Dante’s imagined hell are being eternally tormented for specific moral crimes in categories covering lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
Nothing so cheesy as a prefabricated statue in this part of town, though. lust wide fields of flawless lawn.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
She loathes the former and lusts after the latter, and her heightened emotions and cabaret dreams swell to a magnificent, hysterical crescendo unlike Broadway has ever seen.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2025
Seniesa learns from a loss and lusts for revenge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
Domingo spent decades enacting the full spectrum of what is now called toxic masculinity, men blind to their own lusts and rages.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2020
From end to end, it’s an album of love songs: love progressing through childhood crushes, adult lusts, parental nurturing and benedictions for unknown descendants.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2018
"My father is the soul of avarice, and my sweet sister Cersei lusts for power with every waking breath. I, however, am innocent as a little lamb. Shall I bleat for you?"
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
In suggesting the price was a smidge too high, the streamer tells us it never really lusted after Warner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
Accountability has always been something I’ve lusted after.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
And the advantage won’t just go to Bellevue but to every city that has lusted for Seattle’s treasures.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 19, 2021
Hett’s history puts Hitler at the center of the story of World War II, explaining that he not only desired war but actually lusted for it.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2020
The DiAngelos had four cars, including a silver Porsche, that J.T. lusted after.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
It’s that for various reasons, a lot of Americans are lusting after proof that America is good.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Maybe if people understand how thoroughly an early history of trauma can rewire a brain, they’ll stop lusting for harsh punishments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
On the field, the players will be as fervent as they ever were, lusting for success, trying on stardom but still young and rehearsing for adulthood.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 3, 2021
From Elon Musk to Richard Branson, the wealthiest man on Earth follows a long line of exorbitantly wealthy men lusting for space travel.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2021
But all the gentlemen wished to take part in the expedition, and joined the Bedouins, lusting for battle.
From A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy by H. W. (Henry William) Dulcken
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.
