desirability

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de·sir·a·ble

(dĭ-zīr′ə-bəl)

adj.

1. Worth having or seeking, as by being useful, advantageous, or pleasing: a desirable job in the film industry; a home computer with many desirable features.

2. Worth doing or achieving; advisable: a desirable reform; a desirable outcome.

3. Arousing desire, especially sexual desire.

A desirable person or thing.

de·sir′a·bil′i·ty, de·sir′a·ble·ness n.

de·sir′a·bly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Desirability

See Also: PLEASURE

Beckoning … like summer welcoming the swallows —Ariel Dorfman
Cherish like a secret —D. H. Lawrence
Dear as a pardon —Diane Ackerman
Dear as a remembered kiss after death —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Dear as the mother to the son —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
(She was … ) desirable … like a dessert. Afterward you discarded the empty plate and forgot it —Derek Lambert
(Enigmatic remarks, as elusive and as) eagerly gobbled up as currants in a bun —Robert Culff
See Also: ENTHUSIASM
Hates (publicity) the way Polly hates crackers —Arthur Baer
(Six years ago … the idea of spending an afternoon at Shea Stadium) held about as much appeal as your basic monster traffic jam —Malcom Moran, New York Times, October 11, 1986
Like a box of chocolates … seductive and satisfying —Publishers Weekly comment on a short novel
The simile expanded on the box of chocolates appeal with “Readers will want to devour it in one sitting.”
Welcome as a corpse is to a coroner —Mark Twain
Welcome as a dandelion in the bosom of winter —Josh Billings
Welcome as a free tickets to a hit show —Anon
Welcome as a letter from home —Anon
Welcome as a visit from an old friend —Anon
Welcome as happy tiding after fears —Thomas Otway
Welcome as sunshine after rain —Anon
A possible inspiration for this: “Love comforteth like sunshine after rain” from Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis.
Welcome as the best dish in the kitchen —H. G. Bohn’s Handbook of Proverbs
Welcome as the flowers in May —John Ray’s Proverbs
Welcomed it as a Bedouin in the desert welcomes the flies that are the herald of an oasis —Richard Selzer

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	desirability - the quality of being worthy of desiring desirableness goodness, good - that which is pleasing or valuable or useful; "weigh the good against the bad"; "among the highest goods of all are happiness and self-realization" undesirability - the quality possessed by something that should be avoided
	2.	desirability - attractiveness to the opposite sex oomph, sex appeal, desirableness attractiveness - sexual allure sultriness - the quality of expressing or arousing sexual desire; "the sultriness of her look was unmistakable"; "the sultriness of lust was in the air"

desirability

noun

1. worth, value, benefit, profit, advantage, merit, usefulness the desirability of domestic reform

2. attractiveness, appeal, beauty, charm, good looks, fairness, allure, magnetism, loveliness, prettiness, seductiveness, gorgeousness, handsomeness, pulchritude (formal or literary), winsomeness, comeliness, engagingness, enticingness, glamorousness or glamourousness, pleasingness, prepossessingness, takingness, temptingness, winningness He had not at all overrated her desirability.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

الرَّغْبه في الشَّيء

přitažlivostžádoucnost

ønskværdighed

Verlangen

attrait

kívánatosság

æskileiki; òaî aî vera eftirsóknarverîur

desiderabilit...

ønskelighet

žiaducosť

arzu edilir olma

称心如意

desirability

[dɪˌzaɪərəˈbɪlɪtɪ] N [of plan] → conveniencia f; [of person] → atractivo m
the desirability of the plan is not in question → nadie pone en duda la conveniencia del proyecto

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

desirability

[dɪˌzaɪərəˈbɪlɪti] n

(= attractiveness) [person] → attrait m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

desirability

n → Wünschbarkeit f; they discussed the desirability of launching the product in July → sie erörterten, ob es wünschenswert sei, das Produkt im Juli auf den Markt zu bringen; in his eyes this only increased her desirability → das machte sie in seinen Augen umso begehrenswerter; in order to increase the desirability of these houses → um die Attraktivität dieser Häuser zu erhöhen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

desirability

[dɪˌzaɪərəˈbɪlɪtɪ] n (allure) → desiderabilità; (value) → vantaggio

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

desire

(diˈzaiə) noun

a wish or longing. I have a sudden desire for a bar of chocolate; I have no desire ever to see him again.

verb

to long for or feel desire for. After a day's work, all I desire is a hot bath.

deˈsirable adjective

pleasing or worth having. a desirable residence.

deˌsiraˈbility noun

the extent to which something is desirable.

References in classic literature ?

She planned amusements to distract Meriem's attention from her sorrow, and she instituted a well-designed campaign to impress upon the child the desirability of civilized life and customs.

View in context

An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance.

View in context

Their halting steps acknowledged the desirability of engaging the cab; and they stopped simultaneously, and signed to it.

View in context

Lydgate's spots of commonness lay in the complexion of his prejudices, which, in spite of noble intention and sympathy, were half of them such as are found in ordinary men of the world: that distinction of mind which belonged to his intellectual ardor, did not penetrate his feeling and judgment about furniture, or women, or the desirability of its being known (without his telling) that he was better born than other country surgeons.

View in context

These deal with Nietzsche's principle of the desirability of rearing a select race.

View in context

But Gluck, in the last chapter, using barely three lines for it, mentioned the hypothetical desirability of trial marriages.

View in context

The desirability of a sparkling toilet and tub is evidently most important to established couples, empty nesters and senior couples.

Household Cleaners / Bathroom Cleaners

Social desirability bias is a recognized challenge in market research, wherein a respondent may feel compelled to over-report good (socially desirable) behavior and under-report bad (not socially desirable) behavior.

Looking good: social desirability bias in market research

Consistent with the previous studies (10, 17), the 13-item short version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (20), known as the MC-C, was used to examine the influence of social desirability (the tendency to provide favorable answers to gain the approval of others), which can bias self-report measures and render the validity of the data questionable.

Examen de los efectos a largo plazo de Cuidate, un programa de reduccion del riesgo sexual en jovenes mexicanos

Adding to the knife's desirability is its 420HC guthook ring, as well as its handsome rosewood Dymondwood handle (inlaid into black rubber for a sure, comfortable grip) and genuine leather sheath.

Think of field dressing and the first image

On average, it says coastal locations are a marginal 5% more expensive than the surrounding area, yet this comparison "masks huge variations in terms of both desirability and price".