grasping

American

[gras-ping, grahs-] / ˈgræs pɪŋ, ˈgrɑs- /

adjective

greedy; avaricious.

a sly, grasping man.

Synonyms:

venal, acquisitive, selfish, covetous
being used to grasp or tending to grasp; tenacious.

grasping British

/ ˈɡrɑːspɪŋ /

adjective

greedy; avaricious; rapacious

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of grasping

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

Vocabulary lists containing grasping

Greedy

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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:

grasping

She had been frustrated that one of her junior reports wasn’t grasping her pointers on pitching clients, so she role-played the conversation with the AI coach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

As children, we sense the edges of these silences without fully grasping them.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

The Emmy Award-winning HBO comedy “Hacks” debuted nearly a decade after “Girls,” and it was still centered around a struggling creative grasping for whatever work she could find.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Or David Seaman grasping at thin air as Ronaldinho's free-kick found its way into the back of the net in the quarter-final loss to Brazil in 2002.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

“I am sorry!” said Roz, gently grasping the woman’s shoulder.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023