desirable
nounEtymology From Old French desirable. Morphologically desire + -able.
1
A thing that people want; something that is desirable.
- There are plenty of desirables on display in the window.
desirable
adjUK /dɪˈzaɪəɹəbəl/ · CA, US /dɪˈzaɪɹəbəl/
Etymology From Old French desirable. Morphologically desire + -able.
1
Worthy to be desired; pleasing; agreeable.
- This applicant has almost all desirable properties.
- It has long been recognised that complete segregation of control of the respective services provided by the two undertakings, and of the power supply, signalling, and tracks relating to each was desirable.1956 July, “New Works on District Line, L.T.”, in Railway Magazine, page 485:
1 more example
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
2
Sexually attractive.
- The desirable Miss Moneypenny, M's all-powerful private secretary, gave him an encouraging smile and he walked through the double doors.1954, Ian Fleming, “Interview with M”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 13:
- Antonyms
- undesirable
- Derived terms
- desirability, desirableness, indesirable, nondesirable, ultradesirable