greedy
/ˈɡriːdi
/adjective (greedier, greediest)
1Having an excessive desire or appetite for food: he’s scoffed the lot, the greedy pig...
- It's partly the result, he says, of our endless greedy appetite for the good things of life.
- Dennis groped his greedy hands over the box of food that Adrian had kept so securely beside him.
- The blackcurrant bush is alive with the wings and chirps of greedy blackbirds gorging themselves.
Synonyms
gluttonous, ravenous, ravening, voracious, gourmandizing, gourmand, intemperate, self-indulgent, insatiable, insatiate, wolfish, gannet-like
informal piggish, piggy, swinish, hoggish, gutsy
rare esurient, edacious
(be greedy) have eyes bigger than one's stomach
1.1Having or showing an intense and selfish desire for wealth or power: people driven from their land by greedy developers...
- They are sometimes pugilistic, invariably dominant, and often greedy for power.
- She was greedy for power, and didn't let morals get in the way of her pursuit of it.
- Anthony had been the one who was greedy for his family's wealth wanting to use it for his own ends.
Synonyms
avaricious, acquisitive, covetous, rapacious, grasping, venal, cupidinous, materialistic, mercenary, predatory, usurious, possessive;
grabbing, hoarding, Scrooge-like
informal money-grubbing, money-grabbing
North American informal grabby
rare pleonectic, Mammonish, Mammonistic
eager, avid, hungry, craving, longing, yearning, hankering, thirsty, pining, enthusiastic, impatient, anxious;
desirous of
informal dying, itching, hot, gagging
Derivatives
greediness
/ noun ...- The details suggested a mean streak, an exploitive nature, a sloppy greediness, none of which seemed especially pleasant, let alone presidential.
- This traditional bad habit of greediness must stop now!
- Who hasn't taken solace in some form of greediness, self-assertion, or just plain carelessness?
Origin
Old English grǣdig, of Germanic origin.