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Definition of covet
transitive verb
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.
intransitive verb
: to feel inordinate desire for what belongs to another
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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.
Recent Examples of covet from the Web
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Executives who now just happen to be going 1-on-1 for a prize both covet?
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The position lasts for one year and it's highly coveted, with only 12 drivers a year and thousands of applicants.
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Thanks to some seriously cool new scientific advances in the world of beauty, dermatologists are able to do more with fillers than ever before. Coveting fuller lips?
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Does Wisconsin have the deep reserves of digital-age systems engineers who are coveted in the new manufacturing economy – but said to be in short supply in southeastern Wisconsin and much of the Midwest?
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Additionally, collaborations with Comme Des Garçons on the brand's new Vapor Max running shoe were highly coveted.
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Nor does Trump plan to reinstate limits that Obama lifted on the amount of the island’s coveted rum and cigars that Americans can bring home for personal use.
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Opponents of including immigrant students or U.S. citizen children of immigrants in state college-aid programs argue that finite resources and coveted seats in public colleges should be reserved for those who are in the country legally.
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Soupfin sharks were coveted for making a popular sharkfin soup.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'covet'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of covet
Middle English coveiten, from Anglo-French coveiter, from Vulgar Latin *cupidietare, from Latin cupiditat-, cupiditas desire, from cupidus desirous, from cupere to desire
Synonym Discussion of covet
COVET Defined for English Language Learners
covet
playDefinition of covet for English Language Learners
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: to want (something that you do not have) very much
COVET Defined for Kids
covet
playDefinition of covet for Students
coveted
;coveting
: to wish for greatly or with envy I admit I covet success. It's wrong to covet a friend's happiness.
Learn More about covet
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See words that rhyme with covet Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for covet Spanish Central: Translation of covet Nglish: Translation of covet for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of covet for Arabic speakers
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