coveted; coveting; covets
1
: to wish for earnestly
covet an award
2
: to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably
The king's brother coveted the throne.
: to feel inordinate desire for what belongs to another
Synonyms
Examples of covet in a Sentence
The oldest of the students, she had become a confidante of Fern's and she alone was allowed to call her by her first name. It was not a privilege the others coveted.
—
Edward P. Jones, The Known World, 2003
The only Commandment I'd breached, besides killing that bird with my air rifle, was that I had coveted Bobby Entrekin's electric train. It blew real smoke. Mine didn't.
—Lewis Grizzard, Reader's Digest, January 1992
He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
—Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
His religion warns against coveting material goods.
I've been coveting that sleek sports car in the showroom for some time now.
Edward P. Jones, The Known World, 2003
The only Commandment I'd breached, besides killing that bird with my air rifle, was that I had coveted Bobby Entrekin's electric train. It blew real smoke. Mine didn't.
—Lewis Grizzard, Reader's Digest, January 1992
He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
—Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
His religion warns against coveting material goods.
I've been coveting that sleek sports car in the showroom for some time now.
Recent Examples on the Web
Meanwhile, Kamali’s recent collections have fueled nostalgia for all things ’70s, making fringed leather chaps, jackets and hobo bags the new pieces to covet.
—Ari Stark, WWD, 3 July 2024
Multi-colored spans of gems have been coveted for hundreds of years.
—Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, 24 June 2024
Many teams around the league covet Bridges’ two-way talent, but it has been reported that Brooklyn is not open to trading him at this time.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 18 June 2024
On an island in Greece, researchers have discovered a 3,600-year-old workshop that once turned out a rare purple dye coveted by royalty—and made from snail glands.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for covet 
Ari Stark, WWD, 3 July 2024
Multi-colored spans of gems have been coveted for hundreds of years.
—Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, 24 June 2024
Many teams around the league covet Bridges’ two-way talent, but it has been reported that Brooklyn is not open to trading him at this time.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 18 June 2024
On an island in Greece, researchers have discovered a 3,600-year-old workshop that once turned out a rare purple dye coveted by royalty—and made from snail glands.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for covet
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'covet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Covet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/covet. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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