# Poll: the opposite of desire? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268 "2005-11-16T05:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/1 "2005-11-16T05:23:03Z")
I’ve just finished reading “A Streetcar Named Desire” for the umpteenth time and I must confess I’m in rather a punchy mood, so here’s a question for you: What is the opposite of desire? Is it, as Blanche says, death? A quick Googling gives us fear, anxiety, abjection, sleep, aversion, love, compassion, indifference as options. What say you, and why? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/2 "2005-11-16T05:30:29Z")
**"What is the opposite of desire?"** Some form of aversion, IMHO. Ever loved someone and really desired them, then broke up and not want anything further to do with them? The very idea of being intimate with that person again makes you feel like throwing up? I have, and that feeling of revulsion is the opposite of desire, at least for me. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/3 "2005-11-16T06:28:36Z")
[Despair](http://artshole.co.uk/arts/artist/javi%20ni%F1o/DESPAIR-of-Neil-Gaiman.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/4 "2005-11-16T06:32:16Z")
Antipathy. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/5 "2005-11-16T06:40:15Z")
Indifference. See “marriage” ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/6 "2005-11-16T07:28:09Z")
Aversion, I guess. But isn’t _not_ wanting something basically the same as wanting something? You could say desire doesn’t need an opposite because it can go either way. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/7 "2005-11-16T10:33:18Z")
Another vote for indifference. Hatred/antipathy/aversion etc all contain a little bit of desire. ---
**Author:** ![polljoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3be4f8/32.png) [@polljoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polljoe)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/8 "2005-11-16T12:43:57Z")
I’d go with whimsy. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/9 "2005-11-16T14:29:24Z")
I’d say erised. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/10 "2005-11-16T15:33:48Z")
Satisfaction is the death of desire? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/11 "2005-11-16T15:42:16Z")
I would suggest apathy. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/12 "2005-11-16T15:43:17Z")
Or satiety, depending on how you look at it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/13 "2005-11-16T15:44:35Z")
Revulsion. It’s the exact mirror image of desire. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/14 "2005-11-16T18:46:28Z")
> [@La Llorona](#): > > What is the opposite of desire? Disgust. Desire, I want it. Disgust, get it away from me! ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/15 "2005-11-16T18:59:05Z")
Another vote for apathy. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/16 "2005-11-16T19:46:58Z")
I vote for revulsion. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/17 "2005-11-16T19:51:06Z")
Yeah. “Revulsion” was the first word that occurred to me when I saw the thread title. What I want to know is, what’s the opposite of “streetcar?” ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/18 "2005-11-16T19:54:56Z")
My first thought was “loathing”, but revulsion is good. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/19 "2005-11-16T21:21:13Z")
Indifference or revulsion, depending on what you mean by “opposite”. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268/20 "2005-11-16T21:56:10Z")
Yet another vote for apathy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-opposite-of-desire/331268.md?page=2)