lust

noun \ ˈləst \

Definition of lust

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.

3 a :an intense longing :craving

a lust to succeed

b :enthusiasm, eagerness

admired his lust for life

See lust defined for English-language learners

See lust defined for kids

Examples of lust in a Sentence

He was consumed by lust.
He was driven by a lust for power.
Lust for chocolate drew her into the candy store.

Recent Examples of lust from the Web

This lust had led him to design jewelry, clothes and couches, writes Meister, and even turn his hand to fiction-writing and store window displays.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "From Melting Clocks to Lollipops, Salvador Dalí Left His Mark on the Visual World," 21 July 2017
Dolly Parton, who played Hart’s object of lust Doralee Rhodes in the original film, wrote the lyrics and music for the musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2009.

— karen marks, sacbee, "Musical ‘9 to 5’ clocks in at the Music Circus," 20 July 2017
Now Caesar must lead his people to safety, but his usual wisdom has been compromised by a lust for revenge against the Colonel.

— annalee newitz, Ars Technica, "War for the Planet of the Apes," 14 July 2017
Obviously, some of this is advertising driven given the current lust for short-form video.

— richard deitsch, SI.com, "Media Mailbag: Would Bill Simmons return to ESPN?," 29 June 2017
The result is a take-no-prisoners battle between the dark forces of anti-intellectualism and the shining light of a child’s lust for learning — which makes this show unexpectedly timely and topical.

— punch shaw, star-telegram, "‘Matilda’ brings Roald Dahl’s story to glorious life," 15 June 2017
Dykes makes Roz, a repressed and prissy schoolmarm — Aidy Bryant doing an impression of Margaret Dumont — ridiculous, yet hiding a volcano of lust underneath.

— hampton stevens, kansascity, "MET’s well-acted ‘9 to 5: The Musical’ feels like an homage to Dolly Parton," 15 May 2017
The winners are a mix of drugstore favorites and lust-worthy luxury buys.

— jessica cruel, SELF, "How We Picked the SELF Approved Beauty Awards 2017 Winners," 15 May 2017
America was the culmination of the great exodus—from places, countries, empires, and, more importantly, from ancient hatreds, primal blood lusts, all the insularities and darknesses of the Old World.

— peter savodnik, The Hive, "How Trump Handed Putin a Big Fat Win," 12 May 2017

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.