adjective
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having or characterized by robust health
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strong or invigorating
a lusty brew
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lustful
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lusty
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at lust, -y 1
Explanation
Someone who's lusty is healthy and passionate. A lusty young farm worker is strong and energetic, tackling each new challenge enthusiastically. You can be lusty in love, yearning for or infatuated with another person. You can also be lusty for life, filled with great strength and eager to live each day to the fullest. As time has gone by, lust and lusty have gained the "full of desire" meaning and lost some of the thirteenth century "joyful" sense of the words.
Vocabulary lists containing lusty
"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2
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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.
See Examples For:
There were giant empty spaces in the stands at Hampden but, at the end, there were enough fans left behind to deliver a lusty verdict on what they saw.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Fans who had previously been happy cheering wins with lusty renditions of “Sweet Caroline” don’t mind that it has been shoved aside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Fresh from four months in federal prison, Navarro arrived on stage to a long and lusty ovation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2024
The Warriors survived and a lusty roar went up from their support, That summed it up.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2023
Last in his class at West Point, he makes up for a lack of wisdom with a lusty exuberance.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
Its cuisine is arguably less sophisticated than Provence’s, and yet it is more firmly rooted in the land it sprang from, and it is, I put to you, enjoyed with lustier abandon.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2017
Heartthrob invokes somber, marble notebook dumps as truthfully as it portrays its lustier foil.
From Time ● Feb. 1, 2013
The galleries were unmoved, and stayed that way through the speech of Toledo Blade Editor Grove Patterson nominating Senator Taft, when a lustier demonstration came off.
From Time Magazine Archive
Out of the heart of the Nation, out of Indiana has arisen a new and lustier figure.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Germans sang lustier and more voices came in until they killed the parody even as they had killed “Auld Lang Syne.”
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
A year after the loudest and lustiest of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments was played amid eerie silence and empty seats, the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2021
Delegates to the first convention of the American Veterans Committee, lustiest & loudest of the scores of burgeoning World War II-born veterans' groups, were too busy for horseplay.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not only is Volpone Wolfit's liveliest production, and Volpone his lustiest role, but the play itself is one of the world's masterpieces of sardonic comedy.
From Time Magazine Archive
The lustiest cheers at the vast military parade marking Israel's 25th anniversary in Jerusalem last May were neither for tanks and paratroopers passing the reviewing stand nor Phantoms whooshing overhead.
From Time Magazine Archive
Of all drinkers of sōma he is the lustiest; he swills many lakes of it, and he eats mightily of the flesh of bulls and buffaloes.
From Hindu Gods And Heroes Studies in the History of the Religion of India by Lionel D. Barnett
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