Classes Sentient and Moral Powers Personal Affections Prospective Affections Desire
Desire
Nouns
desire, wish, fancy, fantasy
want, need, exigency. mind, inclination, leaning, bent, animus, partiality, penchant, predilection
propensity etc. Affections
willingness etc. Willingness
liking, love, fondness, relish. longing, hankering, inkling
solicitude, anxiety
yearning, coveting
aspiration, ambition, vaulting ambition
eagerness, zeal, ardor, breathless impatience, overanxiety
impetuosity, c. [Excess of sensitiveness] Excitability
sharp appetite, keenness, hunger, stomach, twist
thirst, thirstiness
drouth, mouthwatering
itch, itching
prurience, cupidity, lust, concupiscence. edge of appetite, edge of hunger
torment of Tantalus
sweet tooth, lickerish tooth
itching palm
longing eye, wistful eye, sheep's eye. [excessive desire for money] greed etc. Existence 7-economy">Economy.1. voracity etc. (gluttony) Gluttony . passion, rage, furore, mania, manie
inextinguishable desire
dipsomania, kleptomania. [Person who desires] lover, amateur, votary, devotee, aspirant, solicitant, candidate, applicant, supplicant
cormorant etc. Gluttony . [Object of desire] desideratum
want etc. (requirement) Requirement
a consummation devoutly to be wished
" attraction, magnet, allurement, fancy, temptation, seduction, fascination, prestige, height of one's ambition, idol
whim, whimsy, whimsey
maggot
hobby, hobby-horse. Fortunatus's cap
wishing cap, wishing stone, wishing well.
Verbs
desire
wish, wish for
be desirous etc. adj. . have a longing etc. n.
hope etc. Hope . care for, affect, like, list
take to, cling to, take a fancy to
fancy
prefer etc. (choose) Choice . have an eye, have a mind to
find it in one's heart etc. (be willing) Willingness
have a fancy for, set one's eyes upon
cast a sheep's eye upon, look sweet upon
take into one's head, have at heart, be bent upon
set one's cap at, set one's heart upon, set one's mind upon
covet. want, miss, need, feel the want of, would fain have, would fain do
would be glad of. be hungry etc. adj.
have a good appetite, play a good knife and fork
hunger after, thirst after, crave after, lust after, itch after, hanker after, run mad after
raven for, die for
burn to. desiderate
sigh for, cry for, gape for, gasp for, pine for, pant for, languish for, yearn for, long, be on thorns for, hope for
aspire after
catch at, grasp at, jump at. woo, court, solicit
fish for, spell for, whistle for, put up for
ogle. cause desire, create desire, raise desire, excite desire, provoke desire
whet the appetite
appetize, titillate, allure, attract, take one's fancy, tempt
hold out temptation, hold out allurement
tantalize, make one's mouth water
Adjectives
desirous
desiring etc. v.
inclined etc. (willing) Willingness
partial to
fain, wishful, optative
anxious, wistful, curious
at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous. craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish, ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient, lickerish, thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy
hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear. [excessively desirous] greedy etc. Existence 7-economy">Economy.1. unsatisfied, unsated, unslaked
unsaturated. eager, avid, keen
burning, fervent, ardent
agog
all agog
breathless
impatient etc. (impetuous) [Excess of sensitiveness] Excitability
bent on, intent on, set on, bent upon, intent upon, set upon
mad after, enrage, rabid, dying for, devoured by desire. aspiring, ambitious, vaulting, skyaspiring, high-reaching. desirable
desired etc. v.
in demand
pleasing etc. (giving pleasure) [Capability of giving pleasure; cause or source of pleasure.] Pleasurableness
appetizing, appetible
tantalizing.
Adverbs
wistfully etc. adj.
fain.
Int
would that, would that it were!, O for!
Phrases
the wish being father to the thought
the mouth watering, the fingers itching
hungry as the grave" [Thomson]
not what we wish but what we want" [Merrick]
such joy ambition finds" [Paradise Lost]
the sea hath bounds but deep desire hath none" [Venus and Adonis]