desiderate
Definition
- Verb:
- To feel a keen desire or longing for something absent or lacking: "desiderate" means to wish for or crave something that is not present, often with a sense of need or yearning.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Scholars often desiderate more funding for research in the humanities. (They keenly wish for additional financial support.)
- After years abroad, she desiderated the comfort of her homeland. (She longed for the familiar environment.)
- The community desiderates a new library to serve its growing population. (They feel a strong need for this facility.)
Advanced Usage
- "to desiderate something": used in formal or literary contexts to express a deep, often unfulfilled wish.
- The philosopher desiderated a world free from conflict. (He yearned for an ideal state.)
- "desiderated" (past participle): something that is longed for.
- The desiderated peace treaty finally brought an end to the war. (The treaty that was deeply desired.)
Variants and Related Words
- Desideratum (noun): something that is needed or wanted very much.
- Access to clean water is a fundamental desideratum for any society. (A basic necessity or requirement.)
- Desiderative (adjective): expressing or relating to desire.
- The poem has a desiderative tone, full of longing for lost youth. (Conveying a sense of wishfulness.)
- Desideration (noun): the act or state of longing or wishing.
- His constant desideration for recognition made him restless. (His persistent wish.)
Synonyms
- Yearn for: to have an intense, often painful longing.
- Crave: to desire strongly, especially for something basic or habitual.
- Lack: to be without something needed or desired (though "lack" is more neutral, while "desiderate" implies active wanting).
Related Idioms
- To hunger for: to have a strong desire for something.
- The artist hungers for inspiration. (Similar to "desiderates" in intensity.)
- To pine for: to yearn intensely, often with sadness.
- She pined for her childhood home. (A more emotional synonym.)