ravenous

[ rav-uh-nuhs ]
See synonyms for: ravenousravenousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. extremely hungry; famished; voracious: feeling ravenous after a hard day's work.

  2. extremely rapacious: a ravenous jungle beast.

  1. intensely eager for gratification or satisfaction.

Origin of ravenous

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French ravineus, equivalent to ravin(er) “to plunder” (See raven2) + -eus-ous

synonym study For ravenous

1. 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 words for ravenous

Opposites for ravenous

Other words from ravenous

  • rav·en·ous·ly, adverb
  • rav·en·ous·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with ravenous

  • ravenous , ravening (see synonym study at the current entry)

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

How to use ravenous in a sentence

  • At seven o'clock they turned back to Randulf's little house, in high spirits, and ravenously hungry.

    Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange Kielland
  • They received us kindly, and we devoured ravenously the remnants of their breakfast of fish and kountee.

  • "Better take beef stew," remarked Emmons, seizing some bread and eating ravenously.

    Ralph Granger's Fortunes | William Perry Brown
  • He felt ravenously hungry himself, and set about drying his clothes as well as he could, and eating at the same time.

    The Well-Beloved | Thomas Hardy
  • When she returned there was a good-sized piece of steaming bread in her hand, and baby was already ravenously devouring his share.

    For John's Sake | Annie Frances Perram

British Dictionary definitions for ravenous

ravenous

/ (ˈrævənəs) /


adjective
  1. famished; starving

  2. rapacious; voracious

Origin of ravenous

1
C16: from Old French ravineux, from Latin rapīna plunder, from rapere to seize

Derived forms of ravenous

  • ravenously, adverb
  • ravenousness, noun

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