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greed
[ greed ]
noun
- excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.
Synonyms: rapacity, ravenousness, covetousness, voracity, cupidity, avidity, avarice
Antonyms: generosity
greed
/ ɡriːd /
noun
- excessive consumption of or desire for food; gluttony
- excessive desire, as for wealth or power
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Derived Forms
- ˈgreedless, adjective
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Other Words From
- greedless adjective
- greedsome adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of greed1
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
If so, investor sentiment is in the process of shifting from greed to complacency.
Working people who have lost our jobs and health insurance to private equity have been forced to fight back against their greed ourselves.
So it was disappointing to see that, at its weeklong convention in August, the Democratic Party didn’t go far enough in reining in the Wall Street greed and excess that have created a crisis for working people, particularly in retail.
Culture, greed, liability laws and good intentions gone awry.
They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else.
Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
By the way, killjoys, American charitable giving goes up by 42 percent during this season of crass materialistic greed and excess.
The opera is a dark and passionate tale of adultery and greed.
The foreclosure-drama is a fascinating study of greed and class warfare, boasting excellent turns by Garfield and Shannon.
And my beloved Zimbabwe has sunk from a promising beacon into an abyss of greed and dictatorship.
But wise and successful as were his methods, the glory of his rule was darkened by his harshness and greed.
The creature's ears seemed literally to twitch with greed of news as he crossed the great quiet room.
These same mothers are now being forced to give these sons for useless slaughter so that the greed of nations can be appeased.
Did God create human lives and fertile lands to have them all fall before the greed of man?
The kitten, with the greed of its kind, devoured the cream, covering its small nose and whiskers with a pinkish film.
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More About Greed
What does greed mean?
Greed is an excessive desire for more, especially for more money and possessions.
The adjective greedy is used to describe people who are filled with greed, as in greedy billionaires, or actions that are based on greed, as in It was a greedy scheme to squeeze more money out of people.
Greed and greedy are always used negatively to criticize the excessive desire for more.
Greed is often thought to influence people to do bad things in their obsession to acquire more money or more stuff. In the expression “the love of money is the root of all evil,” the love of money is another way of saying greed.
Less commonly, greed can mean the same thing as gluttony—an excessive desire for food.
Example: Wall Street’s unrestrained greed has infected every part of American society, from politics to healthcare to education.
Where does greed come from?
The first records of the word greed come from around the early 1600s. It’s actually a back formation of the adjective greedy, which means that greedy came first and was altered to make the noun greed. The first records of the word greedy come from before 900. It comes from the Old English grædig, which is related to the Gothic grēdags, meaning “hungry.”
Greed makes people insatiable—meaning that they’re hungry to acquire more and more money or things, but they’re never satisfied with what they have.
Greed is one of the so-called seven deadly sins in Christian theology. In this context, it is sometimes known by the more formal names of avarice and covetousness.
In pop culture, greed is associated with the character Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol—so much so that the name Scrooge has become a way of referring to a greedy miser or moneygrubber. A more modern example of a character who personifies greed is Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street, whose catch phrase is “Greed is good.”
The opposite of greed is often considered to be generosity—a willingness to give away one’s money or possessions instead of being obsessed with acquiring more.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to greed?
- greedy (adjective)
- greediness (noun)
What are some synonyms for greed?
- greediness
- covetousness
- avarice
- avariciousness
- rapacity
- rapaciousness
- gluttony
What are some words that share a root or word element with greed?
What are some words that often get used in discussing greed?
How is greed used in real life?
Greed is always used in a critical way.
You gain gratitude as you lose greed. You gain generosity when you lose selfishness. Cut your loses and celebrate your gains.
— Iyanla Vanzant (@IyanlaVanzant) November 9, 2020
It's sad when I see people so obsessed with money they just ruin opportunities for themselves because of greed.
— GIGGS (@officialgiggs) September 3, 2017
One thing is obvious our entire health care system is and has been a mess for at least 3 decades. It’s unacceptable & must be addressed from insurance, to healthcare, to hospitals, to drug prices – a massive amount of unrestrained greed & it’s hurting all of us
— Bob Roberts Jr. ن (@bobrobertsjr) March 31, 2020
Try using greed!
Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of greed?
A. avarice
B. covetousness
C. generosity
D. rapacity
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