avaricious

[ av-uh-rish-uhs ]

adjective

1. characterized by avarice; greedy; covetous.

Other Words From

• ava·ricious·ly adverb
• ava·ricious·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of avaricious¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; avarice, -ious

Synonym Study

Avaricious, covetous, greedy, rapacious share the sense of desiring to possess more of something than one already has or might in normal circumstances be entitled to. Avaricious often implies a pathological, driven greediness for money or other valuables and usually suggests a concomitant miserliness: the cheerless dwelling of an avaricious usurer. Covetous implies a powerful and usually illicit desire for the property or possessions of another: The book collector was openly covetous of my rare first edition. Greedy, the most general of these terms, suggests a naked and uncontrolled desire for almost anything—food and drink, money, emotional gratification: embarrassingly greedy for praise. Rapacious, stronger and more assertive than the other terms, implies an aggressive, predatory, insatiable, and unprincipled desire for possessions and power: a rapacious frequenter of tax sales and forced auctions.

Example Sentences

And if both women are more amoral and avaricious than Ma Joad and Mama Younger, well, so are we.

From The Daily Beast

For this story has not been derived from hacked voicemails, an avaricious doctor, or a garrulous friend.

From The Daily Beast

“There are so many couples who fit that bill,” she says of the avaricious pair.

From The Daily Beast

Though good and worthy in his way, the old man was avaricious, and possessed an enormous amount of family pride.

From Project Gutenberg

Strictly reared by a mother gentle and devout, and by a father hard and avaricious.

From Project Gutenberg

He had the reputation of being an avaricious man; but she was beginning to think he was probably poorer than people knew.

From Project Gutenberg

Why do so many persons, who are neither ambitious nor avaricious, toil with such untiring ardour?

From Project Gutenberg

I knocked open the boxes and spread the goods, and then they acted avaricious, particularly the old man with the chicken bones.

From Project Gutenberg