Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
dictionary thesaurus view recents

desirability

noun
Save Word
de·​sir·​abil·​i·​ty | \ di-ˌzī-rə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce desirability (audio) \
plural desirabilities

Definition of desirability

1 desirabilities plural : desirable conditions had understood and studied certain desirabilities— D. D. Eisenhower
2 : the quality, fact, or degree of being desirable
Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about desirability

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of desirability in a Sentence

the desirability of immortality becomes a little less certain after some consideration of the consequences
Recent Examples on the Web One survey about the desirability of working from home reports the participation of 13% SAHMs and 3% stay-at-home-dads, yet still didn’t report the number of WAHMs. — Nicola Prentis, Good Housekeeping, "I Work From Home so I Can Be There for My Kids. But They Didn't Realize I Worked at All.," 30 Dec. 2019 Portland ranked highly in desirability and boasts a strong job market. — oregonlive, "Portland leads West Coast among ‘best places to retire’," 8 Oct. 2019 In an industry where Tappen constantly faces an uphill battle, Roenick undercut all her noteworthy professional accomplishments by reducing her to her desirability among men. — Hemal Jhaveri, For The Win, "There's no defending Jeremy Roenick's inappropriate and demeaning comments," 24 Dec. 2019 The testimony to his own desirability comes via Hardwick’s versified letters or telephone talk: . . . — Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker, "Marriage, Betrayal, and the Letters Behind “The Dolphin”," 9 Dec. 2019 Till chores do us part Indian men never really ranked high on the desirability scale. — Diksha Madhok, Quartz India, "Step up Indian men—or we’ll live happily ever after with our careers," 1 Nov. 2019 The list is based on a methodology that factored in happiness, housing affordability, health care quality, desirability, retiree taxes, and job market ratings. — BostonGlobe.com, "US News and World Report," 9 Oct. 2019 That means prices can change according to the desirability of dates. — Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "Sierra ski outlook: Limited openings for Thanksgiving holiday," 21 Nov. 2019 One argument that Fiat Chrysler can make is, basically, profitability is also impacted by things like financing and desirability of the cars. — Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, "Fraud and bribery? OK, but that doesn't win the case for General Motors," 21 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'desirability.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of desirability

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about desirability

Time Traveler for desirability

Time Traveler

The first known use of desirability was in 1824

See more words from the same year

Statistics for desirability

Last Updated

14 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Desirability.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desirability. Accessed 27 January 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on desirability

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for desirability

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with desirability

Spanish Central: Translation of desirability

Nglish: Translation of desirability for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of desirability for Arabic Speakers

Comments on desirability

What made you want to look up desirability? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

parvenu

Listen to the pronounciation of parvenu

one that suddenly gains wealth or power

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Intact Latin Quiz

  • roman tablet
  • What did focus mean in Latin?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games