Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

desirous

/dɪˈzaɪəɹəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.54 in modern English

Syllables: de-sirous
IPA: /dɪˈzaɪəɹəs/

9

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Feeling desire; eagerly wishing; eager to obtain.

Example Sentences

"His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the King of Siam, being desirous of maintaining and strengthening the relations of friendship which happily exist between them […]"
"More significantly, rigid deference to [Justin] Bieber’s still-young core fan base keeps things resolutely PG, with any acknowledgement of sex either couched in vague “touch your body” workarounds or downgraded to desirous hand-holding and eye-gazing."

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French desirrous, from desirrer + -ous.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: -, desirrous

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /dɪˈzaɪəɹəs/

Inflected Forms

more desirous (comparative) most desirous (superlative)

Derived Forms

desirously desirousness nondesirous overdesirous undesirous

Synonyms

solicitous covetous wishful

Rhymes With

virus cyrus iris antivirus retrovirus cytomegalovirus

Questions

How do you pronounce desirous?: The recorded pronunciation is /dɪˈzaɪəɹəs/.
What does desirous mean?: Feeling desire; eagerly wishing; eager to obtain.
Where does desirous come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce desirous

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “desirous”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɪˈzaɪəɹəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “desirous”.
Repeat and practice — Say “desirous” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.