esurient
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of esurient
First recorded in 1665–75; from Latin ēsurient- (stem of ēsuriēns, present participle of ēsurīre ) “hungering,” equivalent to ēsur- “hunger” + -ent- -ent
Explanation
Esurient means extremely hungry. It would be dangerous to leave your esurient brother in charge of the three dozen cupcakes you baked for a birthday party. Esurient describes someone who's famished or capable of eating an unbelievable amount of food. That's why an esurient group of high school kids might consume an alarming number of pizzas, and a people-eating monster with an esurient glimmer in its eye would make you run the other way. The word implies a greediness that goes beyond mere hunger, and it comes from the Latin root word edere, "to eat."
Vocabulary lists containing esurient
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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.
