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:
Somewhere between the ever-changing headlines and the price chart, the oil market lost its appetite for panic.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
He’s 17 with an appetite like a dog.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Lara's condition meant she was sleeping a lot and began to lose her appetite.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
In OPA1-deficient females, however, its ability to suppress appetite was significantly weaker.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
As far as the Incorrigibles were concerned, then, their tutor’s late arrival, bleak mood, and greedy appetite were all signs of a perfectly ordinary morning.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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 Beast in Me” “Recent trends suggest this race might come down to voters’ appetites for bleak British miniseries.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
He knows that his belly, his lungs, his tired legs, his appetites, his prayers and his mind are cherished in some profound involvement with nature and God.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
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.
