grasping

[gras-ping, grahs-]

adjective

1. greedy; avaricious.

   a sly, grasping man.

   Synonyms: venal, acquisitive, selfish, covetous

2. being used to grasp or tending to grasp; tenacious.

grasping

/ ˈɡrɑːspɪŋ /

adjective

1. greedy; avaricious; rapacious

Other Word Forms

• graspingly adverb
• graspingness noun
• overgrasping adjective
• ungrasping adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of grasping¹

First recorded in 1540–50; grasp + -ing ²

Example Sentences

He’s figured out something the rest of Wall Street seems constitutionally incapable of grasping: that dividends are boring — which is precisely why they work.

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It also applies to many of us who are currently grasping at the best ways to confront the injustices in our country, to say nothing of those occurring in our own backyards.

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Metcalfe’s pursuit of revelation in a single lost poem is magical thinking, a relentless grasping for a chimera.

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Still, the case gives him purpose, and once his path converges with Robbie’s, he recognizes him as a fellow blind driver on a crash course, grasping for direction.

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“Canceled” never quite answers this question explicitly, even though the very relevant topic of misogyny feels within grasping distance.

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