What does desirous mean?
Word: Desirous
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Desirous means having a strong wish for something.
Synonyms: eager, keen, wishful, longing
Antonyms: reluctant, indifferent
How do you spell desirous?
Syllables: de - sir - ous
Tricky part: Desire drops its final e before ous, so there is no e between the r and the o. Desireous and desirus are the usual slips.
Watch out for: desireous, desirus, dezirous
Memory tip: Desire behaves like fame and famous: the e goes out when ous comes in.
Desirous in a sentence
Example 1: The king was desirous of meeting the famous poet.
Example 2: Students desirous of joining the trip must give their names by Friday.
Example 3: He was desirous of a quiet life after many years in the army.
Fun Fact
Desire comes from the Latin desiderare, to long for or to miss, and desirous has been used in English since the 1300s.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to desirous as used in the sentence:
The young engineer was desirous of working abroad for a few years before settling down in Indore.
a) hopeful
b) unwilling
c) ready
d) ambitious
Show answer
b) unwilling. The engineer wanted to go abroad; unwilling would mean he did not, while ambitious, hopeful and ready all fit his plan.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. envious 2. cautious 3. desirious 4. ambitious
a) careful to avoid danger
b) wanting what someone else has
c) wanting very much to succeed
d) having a strong wish for something
Show answer
d) having a strong wish for something. Desirious has a stray i before ous; the word meant is desirous, so the strong-wish meaning is the one to pick.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The new owners are uosrsied of keeping the old school building exactly as it was built.
a) desirable
b) desirous
c) dexterous
d) disastrous
Show answer
b) desirous. This word ends in ous, and the jumble has no a, b, x or t for the other choices.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. "The minister is desirous of a quick end to the strike." So the minister ____.
a) has ordered the strike to begin
b) does not care when the strike ends
c) is afraid the strike will end soon
d) very much wants the strike to end soon
Show answer
d) very much wants the strike to end soon
2. In which of these would the word desirous sound most natural?
a) in a cartoon speech bubble
b) on a shopping list
c) in a text to a close friend
d) in a formal letter or notice
Show answer
d) in a formal letter or notice
