Desideratum
noun
Something that is wanted or needed.
For many travelers, a quiet room is a desideratum.
Often appears as...
- fulfill a desideratum
- essential desideratum
Usage tips
Formal
noun
Something that is wanted or needed.
For many travelers, a quiet room is a desideratum.
Often appears as...
- fulfill a desideratum
- essential desideratum
Usage tips
Formal
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Academic Tone
Used mostly in formal or academic contexts, not in casual conversation.
In the study of ethics, autonomy is a fundamental desideratum.
Pro Tip 2/3Abstract Concept
Often refers to an abstract idea or concept rather than a physical item.
Achieving perfect equality is a desideratum in modern democratic societies.
Pro Tip 3/3Common Usage
Typically used to express a high-level or ideal goal or objective.
In public policy, sustainable development is the current desideratum.
Pro Tip 1/3Academic Tone
Used mostly in formal or academic contexts, not in casual conversation.
In the study of ethics, autonomy is a fundamental desideratum.
Pro Tip 2/3Abstract Concept
Often refers to an abstract idea or concept rather than a physical item.
Achieving perfect equality is a desideratum in modern democratic societies.
Pro Tip 3/3Common Usage
Typically used to express a high-level or ideal goal or objective.
In public policy, sustainable development is the current desideratum.
Pro Tip 1/3Academic Tone
Used mostly in formal or academic contexts, not in casual conversation.
In the study of ethics, autonomy is a fundamental desideratum.
Pro Tip 2/3Abstract Concept
Often refers to an abstract idea or concept rather than a physical item.
Achieving perfect equality is a desideratum in modern democratic societies.
Pro Tip 3/3Common Usage
Typically used to express a high-level or ideal goal or objective.
In public policy, sustainable development is the current desideratum.
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Quote examples
Will Self
English Author
Modernism has a reputation for being a forbidding phenomenon: its visual arts disconcertingly non-representational, its literary efforts devoid of the consolations of plot and character - even its films, it's argued, fall well short of that true desideratum: entertainment.
Quote examples
Murray Rothbard
American Economist
The important desideratum is freedom of the market; a country or region will often best develop, depending on conditions of resources or the market, by concentrating on one or two items and then exchanging them for other items produced elsewhere.
Quote examples
Alan Dershowitz
American Lawyer
I love discomfort. I mean, my whole life is discomfort. One reason I can never retire is that the idea of just sitting on the beach totally comfortable is not a desideratum in my life. I like ambiguity, I like conflict, I like uncertainly.
Quote examples
H. P. Lovecraft
American Novelist
Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction. Indeed, all that a wonder story can ever be is a vivid picture of a certain type of human mood.
Quote examples
John Jay Chapman
American Poet
A vision of truth which does not call upon us to get out of our armchair - why, this is the desideratum of mankind.
Quote examples
Will Self
English Author
Modernism has a reputation for being a forbidding phenomenon: its visual arts disconcertingly non-representational, its literary efforts devoid of the consolations of plot and character - even its films, it's argued, fall well short of that true desideratum: entertainment.
Quote examples
Murray Rothbard
American Economist
The important desideratum is freedom of the market; a country or region will often best develop, depending on conditions of resources or the market, by concentrating on one or two items and then exchanging them for other items produced elsewhere.
Quote examples
Alan Dershowitz
American Lawyer
I love discomfort. I mean, my whole life is discomfort. One reason I can never retire is that the idea of just sitting on the beach totally comfortable is not a desideratum in my life. I like ambiguity, I like conflict, I like uncertainly.
Quote examples
H. P. Lovecraft
American Novelist
Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction. Indeed, all that a wonder story can ever be is a vivid picture of a certain type of human mood.
Quote examples
John Jay Chapman
American Poet
A vision of truth which does not call upon us to get out of our armchair - why, this is the desideratum of mankind.
Example 1 of 5
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