Meanings
present singular third person desiderates · participle present desiderating · participle past desiderated · past desiderated
- transitiveTo miss; to feel the absence of; to long for.
it put him in thought of that missing link of creation’s chain desiderated by the late ingenious Mr Darwin.
1922, James Joyce, Ulysses1 more example
Between our human nature and the nature they desiderate there is a deep and fordless river, over which they can throw no bridge, and all their talk supposes that we shall be able to fly or wade across it […]
1879, William Hurrell Mallock, Is Life Worth Living?
comparative more desiderate · superlative most desiderate
- desired, wished or longed for
O Friend of God, know then that London is the desiderate town even of all Earth's cities.
1916, Lord Dunsany, “A Tale of London”, in Tales of Wonder
Origin
From Latin, from the participle stem of the verb dēsīderāre (“to desire”). The verb is a doublet of desire.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian желая, чувствам липсата на
- желая (želaja)To long for, to feel the absence of
- чувствам липсата на (čuvstvam lipsata na)To long for, to feel the absence of
Māori mānakonako
- mānakonakoTo long for, to feel the absence of
Cite this entry
desiderate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desiderate
“desiderate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desiderate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “desiderate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desiderate.
Source: desiderate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.