cupidity

American  

[kyoo-pid-i-tee] / kyuˈpɪd ɪ ti /

noun

1. eager or excessive desire, especially to possess something; greed; avarice.

   Synonyms:

   hunger, avidity, covetousness

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cupidity British  

/ kjuːˈpɪdɪtɪ /

noun

1. strong desire, esp for possessions or money; greed

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Other Word Forms

• cupidinous adjective

Etymology

Origin of cupidity

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English cupidite, (from Middle French or directly from Latin cupiditās, equivalent to cupid(us) “eager, desirous” ( cup(ere) “to desire” + -idus -id ⁴ ) + -itās -ity

Explanation

Remember the saying “Greed is good”? It could just as easily be “Cupidity is good,” though admittedly it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same way. Cupidity means a burning desire to have more wealth than you need. Though it sounds like it might have something to do with the little winged figure who shoots arrows and makes folks fall in love on Valentine’s Day, cupidity is all about the love of money. It comes to us from Latin cupidus, which means "desirous." It’s not a word that crops up a lot in conversation, though you might run across it in newspapers and magazines, particularly those blaming Wall Street’s unbridled cupidity for America’s economic woes.

Example Sentences

The dribbling of classic works into the public domain every year on Jan. 1 may be gratifying, but it also serves to underscore the stupidity and cupidity of our convoluted copyright system.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 30, 2022

“Our enemies are not man,” he wrote Dr. King in 1966, but “intolerance, fanaticism, dictatorship, cupidity, hatred and discrimination which lie within the heart of man.”

From New York Times • May 16, 2019

Their cupidity quickly becomes an existential threat to all of the people and things that define the city, condemning them to a subterranean life at the bottom of the void.

From The Verge • Sep. 1, 2018

It is a tale of heroic cupidity on a scale that made the very best and the very brightest look like the very, very foolish.

From Washington Post • Jun. 25, 2018

The coins in his hand, he stared at her, helpless before his own cupidity.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks