lust · noun — A feeling of strong desire, especially such a feeling driven by sexual arousal. It carries an Arena rating of 1546, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, lust ranks #476 of 17,136 for Most Malleable Words, #2,121 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,198 of 17,128 for Most Vivid Words, #4,610 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
lust is pronounced /ˈlʌst/.
Why “lust” is a great word
An intense, often sexual, desire or craving. From Middle English lust, from Old English lust ("pleasure, desire, appetite"), from Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz ("pleasure, desire"). Unlike "concupiscence," which theologizes desire into sin, or "apathy," which negates wanting entirely, lust is the raw, ungovernable engine of appetite itself. It is the heat in a glance across a crowded room, the mouth watering at the sight of ripe fruit, the desperate ache for a touch that promises to fill the self—a pure, amoral current that reminds us we are, before anything else, bodies that hunger.
❧ Written by Lexicurio’s AI
Etymology
From Middle English lust, from Old English lust (“lust, pleasure, longing”), from Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz. Akin to Old Saxon, Dutch lust, Old Frisian, Old High German, German Lust, Swedish lust, Danish lyst, Icelandic lyst, Old Norse losti, Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (lustus), and perhaps to Sanskrit लष् (laṣ), लषति (laṣati, “to desire”) and Albanian lushë (“bitch, savage dog, promiscuous woman”), or to English loose. Compare list (“to please”), listless.
noun
- A feeling of strong desire, especially such a feeling driven by sexual arousal.e.g.“Seeing Leslie fills me with a passionate lust.”
- A general want or longing, not necessarily sexual.e.g.“The boarders hide their lust to go home.”
- A delightful cause of joy, pleasure.e.g.“An ideal son is his father's lasting lust.”
- Virility; vigour; active power.
verb
- To look at or watch with a strong desire, especially of a sexual nature.
- To desire.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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