avid

[av-id]

adjective

1. showing great enthusiasm for or interest in.

   an avid moviegoer.

   Synonyms: fanatic, zealous, dedicated, devoted, keen, ardent, enthusiastic
   Antonyms: reluctant, apathetic, indifferent

2. extremely desirous; eager; greedy (often followed by for or sometimesof ).

   avid for pleasure; avid of power.

   Synonyms: rapacious, rapacious, covetous, insatiable, hungry
   Antonyms: loath, disdainful

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

Other Word Forms

• avidly adverb
• avidness noun
• unavid adjective
• unavidness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of avid¹

First recorded in 1760–70; from French avide, from Latin avidus, equivalent to av(ēre) “to crave” + -idus adjective suffix; -id ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of avid¹

C18: from Latin avidus, from avēre to long for

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Where there had been a jungle of weeds and vines, perennials and annuals bloomed thanks to avid volunteer gardeners and contributions from locals.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That’s a modest figure compared to the most avid Bruce fans, who have seen hundreds.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Fortunately for avid bibliophiles, Harper Lee was an inveterate pack rat.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

If the American market has become less receptive to Malbec, Catena’s compatriots are avid for these wines: “We have a very strong domestic market; half the wine we sell is in Argentina.”

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She writes fondly of this period, in the last days of the 1970s — a group of avid young journalists, friends and colleagues, living off their small salaries in an affordable city.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ardent 
• devoted 
• eager 
• fanatical 
• fervent 
• hungry 
• impatient 
• insatiable 
• keen 
• passionate 
• ravenous 
• thirsty 
• voracious 
• zealous