voracious
Americanadjective
-
craving or consuming large quantities of food.
a voracious appetite.
-
exceedingly eager or avid.
voracious readers; a voracious collector.
- Synonyms:
- insatiable, rapacious
adjective
-
devouring or craving food in great quantities
-
very eager or unremitting in some activity
voracious reading
Synonym Usage
See ravenous.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of voracious
First recorded in 1625–35; voraci(ty) + -ous
Explanation
Voracious is an adjective used to describe a wolflike appetite. It might be a craving for food or for something else, such as power, but the word usually denotes an unflattering greediness. Voracious comes from the Latin vorāre, "to devour." The word is usually associated with swallowing or devouring food in a ravenous manner, but it can be used of someone intensely involved in any activity. Pierre Salinger referred to President Kennedy as a "voracious reader," while Robert Bakker once likened the IRS to a "voracious, small-minded predator."
Vocabulary lists containing voracious
Eat Your Words
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Born a Crime
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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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.
Used with permission from Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.
From Salon • Oct. 17, 2025
Voracious army ants prey on many insect and vertebrate species and can travel about 1 kilometer a day, often in and out of dense forests that researchers cannot easily enter.
From Science Magazine • Jan. 5, 2023
Voracious readers of printed comics, they skew older — and are mostly male.
From New York Times • Jul. 23, 2022
Voracious eaters and rapid reproducers, Asian carp may outcompete native species for food, potentially leading to their extinction.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
The Knight of the Voracious Stomach was silent.
From The Dragon of Wantley His Tale by Stewardson, John
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.
