appetite
Americannoun
-
appetites
plural
-
a desire for food or drink.
I have no appetite for lunch today.
- Antonyms:
- satiety
-
a desire to satisfy any bodily need or craving.
- Synonyms:
- wish, inclination, hunger, longing
- Antonyms:
- satiety
-
a desire or liking for something; fondness; taste.
an appetite for power; an appetite for pleasure.
- Antonyms:
- satiety
noun
-
a desire for food or drink
-
a desire to satisfy a bodily craving, as for sexual pleasure
-
(usually foll by for) a desire, liking, or willingness
a great appetite for work
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of appetite
1275–1325; Middle English appetit (< Anglo-French ) < Latin appetītus natural desire, equivalent to appetī- (variant stem of appetere; see appetence) + -tus suffix of v. action
Explanation
If you've filled your plate three times, you must have a strong appetite. I hope you still have room for dessert. The Latin word appetitus, meaning "desire for," is the root for appetite. If you have worked up an appetite, you have a desire for food. If you've lost your appetite, you're not hungry at all (maybe because something upset you). You can have an appetite for things other than food. Perhaps you have an appetite for power, or funny movies, or for little silver shoes with buttons on them.
Vocabulary lists containing appetite
Eat Your Words
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Nutrition - Introductory
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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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.
See Examples For:
Theater, in other words, that was creating a sense of belonging and not simply stoking an appetite for consuming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
We had no appetite for either extreme heat or cold, so we moved to a place where it’s springtime all the time.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Carney's decision will also challenge the appetite among Canadians to accept some economic pain as Ottawa pushes for more US concessions.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
She refers to artworks that “have tested our appetite for wickedness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I was convinced that the fragrance of frying ham was the greatest stimulus to appetite known to man. It was terribly hard on the women.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
And the outlook for future profits is strong, if fans’ appetites are any gauge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
It will be a reminder of what food media can offer when it chooses to nourish more than our appetites.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Williams said his staff were baking about 400 Welsh cakes a day to keep up with diners' appetites.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Still, for those with smaller appetites, the company now offers minidoughnuts, including Mother’s Day versions in May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
The resounding success of the Curagao experiment whetted the appetites of Florida livestock raisers for a similar feat that would relieve them of the scourge of screw-worms.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
