coveted; coveting; covets
1
: to wish for earnestly
covet an award
2
: to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably
The king's brother coveted the throne.
: to feel inordinate desire for what belongs to another
Examples of covet in a Sentence
The oldest of the students, she had become a confidante of Fern's and she alone was allowed to call her by her first name. It was not a privilege the others coveted.
—
Edward P. Jones, The Known World, 2003
The only Commandment I'd breached, besides killing that bird with my air rifle, was that I had coveted Bobby Entrekin's electric train. It blew real smoke. Mine didn't.
—Lewis Grizzard, Reader's Digest, January 1992
He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
—Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
His religion warns against coveting material goods.
I've been coveting that sleek sports car in the showroom for some time now.
Edward P. Jones, The Known World, 2003
The only Commandment I'd breached, besides killing that bird with my air rifle, was that I had coveted Bobby Entrekin's electric train. It blew real smoke. Mine didn't.
—Lewis Grizzard, Reader's Digest, January 1992
He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
—Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
His religion warns against coveting material goods.
I've been coveting that sleek sports car in the showroom for some time now.
Recent Examples on the Web
Less than two years after the Memphis Grizzlies brought in Marcus Smart, coveting his leadership, not just his on-court abilities, the franchise pivoted at this season's trade deadline.
—Bobby Krivitsky, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
The defender has long arms that teams covet in pass-rushers and has the speed to get around even the best tackles.
—David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Apr. 2025
Fox News’ total day audience hiked 48% in the first three months of this year, according to data from Nielsen, while viewership among audiences ages 25 to 54 — the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programming — rose 58%.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 9 Apr. 2025
Not for the powers that be — or for the working-class people who covet the mushroom as a way to get rich, too.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for covet
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Bobby Krivitsky, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
The defender has long arms that teams covet in pass-rushers and has the speed to get around even the best tackles.
—David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Apr. 2025
Fox News’ total day audience hiked 48% in the first three months of this year, according to data from Nielsen, while viewership among audiences ages 25 to 54 — the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programming — rose 58%.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 9 Apr. 2025
Not for the powers that be — or for the working-class people who covet the mushroom as a way to get rich, too.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for covet
Cite this Entry
“Covet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/covet. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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