avaricious

American  

[av-uh-rish-uhs] / ˌæv əˈrɪʃ əs /

adjective

1. characterized by avarice; greedy; covetous.

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Related Words

Avaricious, covetous, greedy, rapacious share the sense of desiring to possess more of something than one already has or might in normal circumstances be entitled to. Avaricious often implies a pathological, driven greediness for money or other valuables and usually suggests a concomitant miserliness: the cheerless dwelling of an avaricious usurer. Covetous implies a powerful and usually illicit desire for the property or possessions of another: The book collector was openly covetous of my rare first edition. Greedy, the most general of these terms, suggests a naked and uncontrolled desire for almost anything—food and drink, money, emotional gratification: embarrassingly greedy for praise. Rapacious, stronger and more assertive than the other terms, implies an aggressive, predatory, insatiable, and unprincipled desire for possessions and power: a rapacious frequenter of tax sales and forced auctions.

Other Word Forms

• avariciously
  adverb
• avariciousness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of avaricious

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at avarice, -ious

Explanation

Someone who is avaricious is greedy or grasping, concerned with gaining wealth. The suggestion is that an avaricious person will do anything to achieve material gain, and it is, in general, not a pleasant attribute. The Latin verb avēre, meaning "to crave" provides the groundwork for the word avaricious and its definition as "greedy or covetous." The adjective is applied to anyone who "craves" great wealth, and suggests that desire for personal gain is an overriding influence in the avaricious person's life. The widespread quality of this selfishness was cleverly noted by Voltaire, who wrote, “Men hate the individual whom they call avaricious only because nothing can be gained from him.”

Example Sentences

An avaricious, envious flirt on the undisguised lookout for something better, she is angry that John wouldn’t use slave labor to build their house.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

Liverpool are not the only club casting an avaricious eye over the man who is currently one of the hottest managerial properties.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2024

Cowardly, avaricious, annoying, territorial, deceitful, opportunistic: There aren’t enough shady adjectives in the dictionary to describe the narrator of Andrew Lipstein’s “Last Resort.”

From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2022

Tuesday Weld was seen regularly as the beautiful, avaricious Thalia Menninger, the financially unattainable object of Dobie’s affections; Warren Beatty had a recurring role early in the run as a blue-blood classmate.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 9, 2022

Finally, Colonel Meecham began his descent, every step a deliberate one, tortoise-slow, designed to augment the impatience of his giddily avaricious offspring.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy