miswant means to want (something) even though it will probably lead to one's own harm or unhappiness (e.g. an addictive drug).
Why “miswant” is a great word
To desire something that, upon acquisition, will fail to deliver happiness or will actively cause harm. From the prefix mis- (meaning "wrongly" or "badly") fused to the verb want (meaning "to desire"). Unlike "crave," which implies an intense appetite indifferent to consequence, or "miscalculate," which addresses an error in judgment or arithmetic, to miswant is to make a profound error in forecasting one's own contentment. It is the promotion pursued for the empty title, the solitary, sugary drink ordered against all evidence it will not quench, the collector's bid that hollows savings for an object destined to gather dust. One learns, too late, that the worst outcomes often arrive dressed as the fulfillment of our own wishes.
Etymology
From mis- + want.
verb
- To want (something) even though it will probably lead to one's own harm or unhappiness (e.g. an addictive drug).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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