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Definition of lust
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: usually intense or unbridled sexual desire : lasciviousness
He was motivated more by lust than by love.
2a
: an intense longing : craving
a lust to succeed
b
: enthusiasm, eagerness
admired his lust for life
lust
verb
lusted; lusting; lusts
Definition of lust (Entry 2 of 2)
: to have an intense desire or need : crave
specifically
: to have a sexual urge
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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.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Bey plainly reveals generational trauma, lust, and prayers with innovative vocalizations — sheets of buoyant ad-libs, trills, and stutters.
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Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, "Yaya Bey: A Black Girl Trying to Heal," 29 Apr. 2021
As life on the ship descends into chaos, they’re consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power.
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Tony Bradley, Forbes, "‘Voyagers’ Employs Innovative Technology To Deliver A Sci-Fi Thriller," 9 Apr. 2021
Welcome to the cringey-beautiful world of erotic fanfiction, also known as smut, where celebrities and fictional characters get both figuratively and literally bent over by lust-minded writers with thirsty readerships.
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Michelle Santiago Cortés, refinery29.com, "Fanfiction Is Cringey & Beautiful — No Wonder It’s Having A Moment," 13 Apr. 2021
As such, for serious Patek Philippe collectors, who either already have a Nautilus or prefer not to follow the lust of the masses, this is instantly the must-have model of the year (so far at least).
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Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, "Patek Philippe Just Unveiled 5 More New Watches, Including Two Calendar Watches and Calatrava Models," 12 Apr. 2021
To glimpse old photos of Jane and Serge is to enter a sophisticated netherworld that no longer exists, a glamorous fog of early-morning excess and possessed lust.
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Washington Post, "Jane Birkin is back with a new album, but her presence is everlasting," 19 Mar. 2021
To even be as horny for Tallie as Abigail is, lending literal voice to that lust in her journals, is substantial.
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K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, "Women in Love: ‘The World to Come’ Is Filled With the Wild Excitement of Romance," 7 Mar. 2021
Some members, like producer Romil Hemnani, lust after hits.
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Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, "Brockhampton Process Pain and Get Closer to Pop on ‘Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine’," 9 Apr. 2021
They’ve been genetically chosen for genius, and nurtured in an egalitarian pod, far away from socioeconomic inequalities, but Burger ultimately asserts that there’s no arguing with human nature and the forces of desire, lust, jealousy and rage.
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Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, "Review: The kids aren’t all right in the allegorical space adventure ‘Voyagers’," 7 Apr. 2021
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Luckily, Bridgerton was just renewed for a season 3 and 4, so there will be many more hot people to lust after.
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Natalie Morin, refinery29.com, "Let Regé-Jean Page Have His Happily Ever After," 14 Apr. 2021
The language—chosen but simple and unforced—speaks powerfully to lust, ripeness and anticipation.
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Sam Sacks, WSJ, "Fiction: ‘That Old Country Music’ Review," 15 Jan. 2021
Claggart takes advantage of that paranoid atmosphere by accusing Billy of fomenting mutiny—a wholly unsubstantiated claim rooted in Claggart’s corrosive envy of, and lust for, the sailor.
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Alex Ross, The New Yorker, "Pushed to the Edge by “Beau Travail”," 20 Oct. 2020
From practically the beginning of his love affair with computers, Chandra has lusted after a word processor that will keep him from making inadvertent mistakes.
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Andrew Leonard, Wired, "A Code-Obsessed Novelist Builds a Writing Bot. The Plot Thickens," 6 Feb. 2020
Look for another great read that combines compelling history and the adventures of an action hero––think Charles Bronson in Death Wish–– lusting for revenge.
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Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Book review: ‘Wolf’ is the pre-World War II historical thriller you didn’t know you needed right now," 31 Mar. 2020
This bin comes in three trendy colors and is also great for anyone who is constantly scrapping paper, opening envelopes, or lusting after cute design-y items online all day.
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Cassidy Olsen, USA TODAY, "20 great gifts your coworkers will actually use," 29 Oct. 2019
Here was the defense Miller had lusted for all winter, a stifling, choking effort that simply allowed nothing easily.
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Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star, "IU defense slams door on Northwestern. Is this a turning point for the Hoosiers?," 9 Jan. 2020
The flavor soul of most food ingredients is split into halves that rarely mix: one that thrives in water and one that lusts after fat.
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Ali Bouzari, SFChronicle.com, "Housemade: How Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant highlights quality Tequila in its margaritas," 30 Dec. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lust.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Learn More about lust
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
'Luxury' Originally Meant 'Lust'
'Luxury' Originally Meant 'Lust'
From 'lechery' to 'something that is expensive and not necessary'
Dictionary Entries near lust
See More Nearby EntriesStatistics for lust
Last Updated
8 May 2021
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Cite this Entry
“Lust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lust. Accessed 8 May. 2021.
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More Definitions for lust
lust
noun
English Language Learners Definition of lust
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a strong feeling of sexual desire
: a strong desire for something
lust
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of lust (Entry 2 of 2)
: to have a strong sexual desire for someone
: to have a strong desire for something
See the full definition for lust in the English Language Learners Dictionary
lust
noun
\ ˈləst
\
\
Kids Definition of lust
: a strong longing
She has a lust for adventure.
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Time Traveler for lust
The first known use of lust was before the 12th century
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