grasping

American

[gras-ping, grahs-] / ˈgræs pɪŋ, ˈgrɑs- /

adjective

greedy; avaricious.

a sly, grasping man.

Synonyms:

venal, acquisitive, selfish, covetous
being used to grasp or tending to grasp; tenacious.

grasping British

/ ˈɡrɑːspɪŋ /

adjective

greedy; avaricious; rapacious

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of grasping

First recorded in 1540–50; grasp + -ing ²

Vocabulary lists containing grasping

Greedy

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

grasping

But there I was, grasping my husband’s hand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

As children, we sense the edges of these silences without fully grasping them.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

Now, as growth flatlines, a desperate government is grasping for ideas to get the economy going again, including opening up retail across the whole week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Or David Seaman grasping at thin air as Ronaldinho's free-kick found its way into the back of the net in the quarter-final loss to Brazil in 2002.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Taran stumbled down the riverbank and leaped to a boulder, feverishly grasping for his weapon.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023