greed

American  

[greed] / grid /

noun

1. excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.

   Synonyms:

   rapacity, ravenousness, voracity, covetousness, cupidity, avidity, avarice

   Antonyms:

   generosity

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greed British  

/ ɡriːd /

noun

1. excessive consumption of or desire for food; gluttony

2. excessive desire, as for wealth or power

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Usage

What does greed mean? Greed is an excessive desire for more, especially for more money and possessions. The adjective greedy is used to describe people who are filled with greed, as in greedy billionaires, or actions that are based on greed, as in It was a greedy scheme to squeeze more money out of people.  Greed and greedy are always used negatively to criticize the excessive desire for more. Greed is often thought to influence people to do bad things in their obsession to acquire more money or more stuff. In the expression “the love of money is the root of all evil,” the love of money is another way of saying greed. Less commonly, greed can mean the same thing as gluttony—an excessive desire for food. Example: Wall Street’s unrestrained greed has infected every part of American society, from politics to healthcare to education.

Related Words

Greed, greediness denote an excessive, extreme desire for something, often more than one's proper share. Greed means avid desire for gain or wealth (unless some other application is indicated) and is definitely uncomplimentary in implication: His greed drove him to exploit his workers. Greediness, when unqualified, suggests a craving for food; it may, however, be applied to all avid desires, and need not be always uncomplimentary: greediness for knowledge, fame, praise.

Other Word Forms

• greedless adjective
• greedsome adjective

Etymology

Origin of greed

First recorded in 1600–10; back formation from greedy

Explanation

Greed is an overwhelming urge to have more of something, usually more than you really need. Watching kids at a birthday party furiously grabbing for candy from a piñata, you might find yourself surprised at their greed. Greed is often connected with money, a desire to acquire as much of it as possible, but it can refer to that kind of urge toward anything, like food or material possessions. When you see greed, it's an ugly thing, whether you're observing a greedy person or the greed of a huge company that treats its workers badly in order to make more money. Greed comes from the Old English grædig, or "voracious," which means "always hungry for more."

Example Sentences

Arrogance, greed and misjudgment were, and remain, enough to do the trick.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Det Const Arben Morina, who is leading the investigation, said: "Conticello thought nothing of helping himself to someone else's possessions, and he now faces a prison sentence as a result of his greed."

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

The footage, which appears in Laura Poitras’ marvelous 2022 documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” is a haunting vision of lethal corporate greed.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026

He said all these issues were grounded in the greed of the nation’s wealthiest residents.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Everything—our houses, our clothes, our hairstyles—is meant to help us forget ourselves and to protect us from vanity, greed, and envy, which are just forms of selfishness.

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

Related Words

• avarice
• excess
• gluttony
• hunger
• longing
• selfishness