1
: usually intense or unbridled sexual desire : lasciviousness
He was motivated more by lust than by love.
2
a
: an intense longing : craving
a lust to succeed
b
: enthusiasm, eagerness
admired his lust for life
lusted; lusting; lusts
: to have an intense desire or need : crave
specifically
: to have a sexual urge
Synonyms of lust
Examples of lust in a Sentence
Noun
He was consumed by lust.
He was driven by a lust for power.
Lust for chocolate drew her into the candy store.
Verb
I'm lusting after that new SUV
Recent Examples on the Web
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
Their lust for power often blinds them to popular disaffection.
—Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2025
Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2025
Caracas may be hoping to secure long-range reconnaissance drones, which would likely need to be linked up to satellites to have usable live feeds, or be lusting after one-way attack drones.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lust
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Noun
With a story of secret cabals and a child born to rule, Dumont projects the nasty prejudices and bureaucratic rigors of local politics, the tangles of family allegiances, and the tender grunge of young lust into divine and diabolical clashes run from celestial and subterranean castles.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
Their lust for power often blinds them to popular disaffection.
—Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2025
Verb
His palette is light, smudgy guitar textures and warm synths; his message, more gestural than discursive, is love and lust.
—Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2025
Caracas may be hoping to secure long-range reconnaissance drones, which would likely need to be linked up to satellites to have usable live feeds, or be lusting after one-way attack drones.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lust
Cite this Entry
“Lust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lust. Accessed 14 Dec. 2025.
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