lust

1 of 2

noun

ˈləst 

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

3

obsolete

a

: pleasure, delight

b

: personal inclination : wish

lust

2 of 2

verb

lusted; lusting; lusts

intransitive verb

: to have an intense desire or need : crave

specifically : to have a sexual urge

Synonyms of lust

Noun

• passion
• lustfulness
• eroticism
• eros
• concupiscence

Verb

• crave
• pine (for)
• want
• pant (after)
• long (for)
• die (for)
• hanker (for or after)
• repine (for)
• wish (for)
• hunger (for)
• sigh (for)
• thirst (for)
• yen (for)
• itch (for)
• salivate (for)
• jones (for)

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

Noun

The dialectically deft characters in his movies aren’t talking heads but talking bodies, elaborating a world of cultural and rhetorical elegance from the sublimation of lust and the dream of love. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 July 2026

More important to Bernstein is what that lust reveals about her characters’ deepest needs, specifically how their need to care and be cared for can be as easily perverted as any other form of desire. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 9 July 2026

Verb

Lot is often described in the Qurʾān, and in subsequent interpretive traditions, in the role of condemning the men of Sodom for lusting after men rather than women. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026

The war was particularly popular among white southerners who lusted for new territory. — Tyler Green, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German lust pleasure and perhaps to Latin lascivus wanton

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing lust

• lust for life

Rhymes for lust

• bused
• bust
• crust
• cussed
• dust
• fussed
• fust
• gust
• just
• maist
• mussed
• must

Kids Definition

lust

1 of 2 noun

ˈləst 

1

: sexual desire especially if strong or uncontrolled

2

: a strong longing : craving

lust

2 of 2 verb

: to have a strong desire : crave

especially : to have a strong sexual desire