What does crave mean?
To crave is to experience a strong, insistent desire for something, whether it be food, a substance, or something intangible like attention, comfort, or recognition. The word carries a sense of urgency and compulsion that sets it apart from milder terms like want or wish: a person who craves something feels its absence keenly and often struggles to think of anything else. In modern usage, crave appears most often in discussions of appetite — people crave sweets, salt, or caffeine — and in psychology and medicine, where cravings are central to understanding addiction and recovery. It also describes deep-seated emotional needs, as when someone craves validation or closeness. Derived forms include the noun craving and the agent noun craver. Rooted in Old English, the word has kept its essential force for over a thousand years, making it both a precise descriptor of intense desire and a vivid one for writers seeking more than the ordinary vocabulary of wanting.
To feel a powerful, persistent desire or need for something.
"Pregnant women often crave unusual combinations of foods."
Frequently used with food, substances, or abstract needs such as attention.
(Archaic) To ask or beg for something earnestly.
"The prisoner craved the king's mercy."
Now chiefly literary or historical; implies formal, humble petitioning.
"Craving" was originally about begging: the word traces back to Old English crafian, meaning to demand or ask earnestly.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crave
Crave descends from the Old English verb crafian, meaning to demand, ask for eagerly, or claim as a right. It belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family and shares a distant root with words like grab and grub. Over the centuries its emphasis shifted from formally requesting something to intensely desiring it, giving the modern sense of longing. Cognate forms appear across the Germanic languages, though English "crave" itself remains distinctly native in origin rather than borrowed from Latin or French.
Related word forms
How crave is actually used
Common in both everyday and psychological contexts; frequently used with food cravings, addiction discourse, and emotional needs. The noun "craving" is very common, especially regarding appetite and addiction. The archaic sense of formally requesting something survives mainly in literary or legal-flavored language.
Easily confused with crave
Carve means to cut or shape material such as wood or meat, while crave means to desire something intensely.