【Desire】 , 【appetite】 , 【lust】 , 【passion】 , 【urge】 are comparable as meaning a longing for something regarded as essential to one's well-being or happiness or as meaning an impulse originating in a man's nature and driving him toward the object or the experience which promises him enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment.
【Desire】 may be used of every conceivable longing that stirs one emotionally, whether that longing originates in man's physical or in his spiritual nature, whether it is natural and normal or unnatural and perverted, whether it is generally regarded as low or high in the scale of moral or spiritual values.
It may be used specifically to denote sexual longing, but it does not always convey derogatory connotations when so restricted in meaning.
【Desire】 is often used in implicit contrast to will or volition, for in itself it carries no implication of a determination or effort to possess or attain.
【Appetite】 is almost as extensive in its range of application as 【desire】 , and it invariably implies an imperative demand for satisfaction. It is specifically applied to the longings (as hunger, thirst, and sexual 【desire】 ) which arise out of man's physical nature and which may be thwarted only by circumstances beyond one's control or by deliberate self-control.
The word may be applied also to equally exacting longings which drive one to their satisfaction, whether they originate in his nature or are acquired.
【Lust】 combines the specific denotation of 【desire】 as a longing that stirs emotion and that of 【appetite】 as a longing that exacts satisfaction; often it implies domination by the emotion or insatiability of the 【appetite】 .
When used specifically to denote sexual longing, 【lust】 unlike 【desire】 automatically carries derogatory connotations.
【Passion】 is applied to any intense and preoccupying emotion which gives one's mind its particular bent or which serves as an outlet for and gives direction to one's energies.
Though it comes close to 【lust】 in suggesting the energizing of 【desire】 by the vehemence of the emotions, 【passion】 is the better choice when personal predilection is implied; thus, he, too, knew the 【lust】 (better than 【passion】 ) for power; but, his work reveals a 【passion】 (better than 【lust】 ) for perfection.
【Urge】 , which basically means a force or motive which drives one to action, often more specifically denotes a strong, persistent, and compelling 【desire】 that has its origin in one's physical nature or one's peculiar temperament.
The word is sometimes applied to the physical appetites (the sexual 【appetite】 is often called "the biological 【urge】 "), but it is more often used of a 【desire】 so strong and insistent that it must be satisfied or a sense of frustration ensues.
