appetite
Americannoun
-
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
- appetitive adjective
Etymology
Origin of appetite
1275–1325; Middle English appetit (< Anglo-French ) < Latin appetītus natural desire, equivalent to appetī- (variant stem of appetere; 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.
Oil markets remain the lynchpin for risk appetite heading into the final trading days of the week.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
The Citadel note stated that appetite for options has also skewed bearish, as retail traders buy record levels of put contracts.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
For now, appetite for risk assets is back.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
People who carry variations in two genes linked to appetite and digestion can lose more weight when taking drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro to treat obesity, research suggests.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Fig’s list of symptoms ran through my head: Hershey breath, never enough water in his bowl, shrinking appetite, and Sleeping Beauty syndrome.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
