lust

noun

\ˈləst

Definition of lust

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 obsolete

a : pleasure, delight

b : personal inclination : wish

2 : usually intense or unbridled sexual desire : lasciviousness He was motivated more by lust than by love.

3a : 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)

intransitive verb

: to have an intense desire or need : crave specifically : to have a sexual urge

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about lust

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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.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Shirley Manson: To hear a woman talk about lust is so unusual. — Hilary Hughes, Billboard, "Patti Smith on 'Because The Night' at 40: How Her Bruce Springsteen Collaboration Is 'A Whole Life in A Song'," 21 June 2018 The beast in Qiu Miaojin’s modernist novels is the consciousness in women that is aware of a deviant lust for women’s bodies. — Ankita Chakraborty, Longreads, "A Crocodile In Paris: The Queer Classics of Qiu Miaojin," 8 June 2018 Upon her escape, Needy finds and then murders the men whose lust for renown turned her friend into a monster. — Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, "Dietland Envisions a World of Female Revenge," 5 June 2018 Wallethub took seven sin categories - anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity, and laziness - to compile their overall vice ranking. — Heather Leighton, Houston Chronicle, "Texas named the most lustful state in America, according to new Wallethub study," 21 Feb. 2018 Kylie Jenner's makeup routine is a lot of things: gorgeous, filled with lust-worthy products, and intense, to name a few. — Zoe Weiner, Allure, "Watch Manny MUA Flawlessly Recreate Kylie Jenner’s Entire Makeup Routine," 9 July 2018 Majordomo's kitchen is brilliant at engineering pure food lust. — Jonathan Gold, latimes.com, "At Majordomo, Jonathan Gold is unsure whether to praise chef David Chang — or bury him," 13 Apr. 2018 This week, Snail Mail expresses some self-doubt, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie balances love and lust and live recordings of Miles Davis and John Coltrane are released. — Jon Pareles, New York Times, "The Playlist: Shawn Mendes Shows His Scars, and 9 More New Songs," 23 Mar. 2018 Their love and lust for each other made all four of their cold, dead eyes sparkle. — Heather Havrilesky, The Cut, "The Bachelor Finale Was Enough to Make You Nostalgic for Paradise Hotel," 7 Mar. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Some are perhaps yet to witness theirs, while some are probably lusting over the memories of theirs playing from many years ago. — SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 3 Weeks to Go - Ranking the Best 'Golden Generations' at the 2006 Tournament," 4 June 2018 Displaced Puerto Ricans have become the face of a voting bloc politicians are lusting over. — Bianca Padró Ocasio, OrlandoSentinel.com, "These Puerto Ricans who fled Hurricane María's destruction built a community at a Super 8 in Kissimmee. Now, they have to leave it.," 27 June 2018 Stansell is one of those rare performers who does make country music videos showing two men lusting after each other (alongside an impressive rainbow dust cloud). — refinery29.com, "How Country Music Became A Safe(r) Space For LGBTQ+ Artists," 8 June 2018 The documents had transcripts of conversations between Sherman and an unidentified blogger that showed the two explicitly lusting after the young girls depicted in the images and videos. — Wayne K. Roustan, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Former middle school teacher facing child pornography charges," 22 June 2018 Considering how the Orioles and their fans lusted over Houston Astros pitching prospect Forrest Whitley last year during the Zach Britton saga, such comparisons should be welcome. — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Get to know 2018 Orioles draft picks Grayson Rodriguez, Cadyn Grenier," 5 June 2018 Thus this highly readable chronicle comprises vaulting ambition, familial betrayal, moral corruption, high politics, foul murder and a beautiful queen lusting for revenge. — Andrew Roberts, WSJ, "‘Richard III’ Review: The Villain Wore a Crown," 30 Apr. 2018 This week, a new-to-NYC humanitarian worker lusting after a younger guy and bored by a preppy one: 37, straight, single, Upper East Side. — The Cut, "The Humanitarian Worker Contemplating Group Sex," 6 May 2018 Alas, Tess is lusting for bad boy bartender Jake (Tom Sturridge). — San Francisco Chronicle, "First course of ‘Sweetbitter’ goes down easily on Starz," 30 Apr. 2018

These 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.