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
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:
There’s appetite for innovation, and there’s appetite for performance, but we have to earn the value every day, probably harder than we’ve had to in a long time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“They have also indicated an appetite to get into mechanical,” another phase of data-center construction, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
The name-dropping is relentless and if, like me, you have an insatiable appetite for hoovering them up, this volume will not disappoint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
As those amounts rise, so your appetite for risk becomes clear.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Around the time PJ. entered high school, the Warden’s appetite for more adventure took him to another auction.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
As wine sales have steadily declined in recent years, appetites for white varieties have remained healthy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
"It was a conflicted time because I thought I'm not like those women so where do I go to find something that fits with what I feel about life and the appetites I have."
From BBC ● May 29, 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
For now, ”risk appetites are leaning cleanly into a de-escalation narrative.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 14, 2026
He needed some of his appetites filled, some posture of adulthood recognized, but mosdy he wanted someone to care about his hurt, to care very deeply.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
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.
