Meaning & use
desire someone
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Meaning
phrasetransitive
To feel a strong romantic or physical longing for a particular person.
Grammar: Takes a direct object: desire someone. Often used in formal or literary contexts rather than casual conversation.
Patterns
- desire someone deeply
- desire someone secretly
- desire someone from afar
He had desired her since the first time they met.
In the novel, the main character desires someone he can never have.
She admitted that she still desired him after all those years.
Common combinations
- desire someone deeply
- He desired her deeply but never told her how he felt.
- desire someone secretly
- She desired him secretly for months before saying anything.
- desire someone from afar
- The poet writes about desiring someone from afar.
Synonyms and how they differ
- want
- Much more common and direct; 'want someone' can mean simply wishing for their company, while 'desire someone' strongly suggests romantic or physical attraction.
- long for
- Emphasizes a painful, ongoing longing; 'desire someone' can be more immediate and intense.
- crave
- Often used for physical needs like food or drugs, so 'crave someone' sounds more urgent and less romantic than 'desire someone'.
Word family
Commonly confused: desire someone or desert?
desire someone vs desert
A dry area of land; do not confuse the spelling with 'desire', which means to want.
Practice
In which sentence is 'desire someone' used correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Desire someone' is a transitive phrase and takes a direct object without a preposition. 'Desires someone he met at work' follows this pattern. The other options incorrectly add prepositions or use 'desire' in unrelated contexts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “desire someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.