avidity
Americannoun
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eagerness; greediness.
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enthusiasm or dedication.
noun
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the quality or state of being avid
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eagerness
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greed; avarice
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chem
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the strength of an acid or base in proportion to its degree of dissociation
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another term for affinity
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immunol a measure of antigen-to-antibody binding, based on the rate of formation of the complex
Etymology
Origin of avidity
1400–50; late Middle English avidite < Middle French < Latin aviditās. See avid, -ity
Explanation
Avidity is a feeling of enthusiasm, a form of willingness and eagerness. If you’re a fan of girl detectives, you read all of the Nancy Drew books with avidity. People who like something a lot are avid, like avid fans of Batman who see every movie and collect every comic book. The noun form is avidity, which refers to this quality of being enthusiastic and eager. The word avidity is from the Latin aviditatem for "eagerness.” When starting a new project, like writing a story, most people dive in with avidity. When you feel avidity, you're keen to do something — you really want to do it.
Vocabulary lists containing avidity
"The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe
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The Wind in the Willows
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What Maisie Knew
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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.
As the dance’s “Odd Man Out,” John Harnage, impressive all season, embodied his choreography’s feisty resistance with avidity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
The researchers further refined their TIL selection process by applying a secondary algorithmic filter to screen for only those tumor-reactive T-cells with "high avidity" -- that is, those that bind strongly to tumor antigens.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2024
“The Yanomami are paying the price with their health and their very lives for our society’s relentless avidity for gold,” said Navarro.
From Seattle Times • May 15, 2023
Typically, multimeric antibodies, such as pentameric IgM, are classified as having lower affinity than monomeric antibodies, but high avidity.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
He shook his head now, admiring with genuine avidity the spread of fruit before him; strawberries arranged in turned-up cedar flats, heavy and pungent, deeply crimson and firm, a regal abundance of them.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
