adjective
-
famished; starving
-
rapacious; voracious
Usage
What does ravenous mean? Ravenous means extremely hungry, as in After being unable to eat solid foods for a week, Isaac was now ravenous. Ravenous in this sense is often used figuratively. You might be hungry but not literally starving and still describe yourself as ravenous. Ravenous also means extremely greedy or predatory. It’s especially used to describe predatory animals, but it’s also used to describe people. Ravenous people may be greedy for riches, fame, or something else that they think will give them satisfaction if they have a lot of it. (Whether they can ever be satisfied is another discussion.)Example: After a long day hiking up the mountain, the hikers were ravenous, inhaling their dinner in a matter of minutes.
Related Words
Ravenous, ravening, voracious suggest a greediness for food and usually intense hunger. Ravenous implies extreme hunger, or a famished condition: ravenous wild beasts. Ravening adds the idea of fierceness and savagery, especially as shown in a violent manner of acquiring food: ravening wolves. Voracious implies craving or eating a great deal of food: a voracious child; a voracious appetite. It may also be used figuratively: a voracious reader.
Other Word Forms
- ravenously adverb
- ravenousness noun
Etymology
Origin of ravenous
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French ravineus, equivalent to ravin(er) “to plunder” ( See raven 2 ) + -eus -ous
Explanation
A ravenous person feels like they haven't eaten in days and could probably finish off 10 pizzas without help. So ravenous is not a good state to be in when you go grocery shopping. Back in the early 15th century, you would have been called ravenous if you were greedy and obsessed with stealing, much like a pirate. Nowadays, it’s often used to describe extreme hunger or desire. Having a ravenous appetite means you're literally hungry like the wolf, snarling and growling (stomach) included. So do everyone in the lunchroom a favor and remember to eat breakfast.
Vocabulary lists containing ravenous
Eat Your Words
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The rapid rise speaks to ravenous demand for memory in AI data centers.
From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026
Many were raised in “immigrant households, with a ravenous appreciation for American pop culture, sneakers, graphic T-shirts, and hip-hop.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Either way, fans are ravenous for more information.
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026
A few nights a week, I exit class sweaty and ravenous and walk straight for a grocery store to fill it.
From Salon • Jan. 1, 2026
It hardly seemed fair to accuse him of being a ravenous monster.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
