avid

[ av-id ]
See synonyms for avid on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. showing great enthusiasm for or interest in: an avid moviegoer.

  2. extremely desirous; eager; greedy (often followed by for or sometimes of): avid for pleasure; avid of power.

Origin of avid

1
First recorded in 1760–70; from French avide, from Latin avidus, equivalent to av(ēre) “to crave” + -idus adjective suffix; see -id4

synonym study For avid

Avid, eager, keen all share the sense of strongly desirous. Avid suggests a desire akin to greed, so strong as to be insatiable: driven by an avid need for fame and recognition. Eager implies a desire that is strong and impatient but less than overpowering: eager to try his hand at new tasks. Keen carries a sense of zest and active, alert desire: an amateur painter, ever keen to try new techniques.

word story For avid

The word avid is relatively new, coming into the language in the 18th century from the French word avide, which comes from the Latin word avidus. That word, in turn, comes from the Latin verb avēre, a multifaceted word that is translated as “to crave, long for,” but incorporates many levels of desire, from eagerness to hunger to outright lust.
As used in English, the sense of physical craving or hunger is very rare, as in this 1866 translation of a line from Ovid's Metamorphoses: “Or dragon avid for his prey.” Instead, we tend to use avid synonymously with “intensely eager.” What avid lends to “eager” is the added dimension of intensification by either enthusiasm (an avid fan of indie films) or desire, which can sometimes morph into greed (avid for company; avid for gold). An excess of any of these qualities may lead to darker territories, as shown by this 1953 quote from The New Yorker: “He was writing for a public avid for gruesome details.”

Other words for avid

Opposites for avid

Other words from avid

  • av·id·ly, adverb
  • av·id·ness, noun
  • un·av·id, adjective
  • un·av·id·ness, noun

Words Nearby avid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use avid in a sentence

  • The shout of approval showed how avid they were for some direct expression of their accumulated resentment.

    Mountain | Clement Wood
  • The uneventful lives they led year after year made men and women alike avid for anything of the nature of news or incident.

  • The funny thing is that Wagner never renounced anything: to the end he was greedy, avid of life.

    Richard Wagner | John F. Runciman
  • What a break-off, leaving the gasping reader in a state of choking suspense, of avid, ungratified curiosity!

    Ptomaine Street | Carolyn Wells
  • There was a meagre, passionless dulness about the aspect, though at times it quickened into a kind of avid acuteness.

    Lucretia, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for avid

avid

/ (ˈævɪd) /


adjective
  1. very keen; enthusiastic: an avid reader

  2. (postpositive; often foll by for or of) eager (for); desirous (of); greedy (for): avid for revenge

Origin of avid

1
C18: from Latin avidus, from avēre to long for

Derived forms of avid

  • avidly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012