voracious
Americanadjective
-
craving or consuming large quantities of food.
a voracious appetite.
-
exceedingly eager or avid.
voracious readers; a voracious collector.
- Synonyms:
- insatiable, rapacious
adjective
-
devouring or craving food in great quantities
-
very eager or unremitting in some activity
voracious reading
Synonym Usage
See ravenous.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of voracious
First recorded in 1625–35; voraci(ty) + -ous
Explanation
Voracious is an adjective used to describe a wolflike appetite. It might be a craving for food or for something else, such as power, but the word usually denotes an unflattering greediness. Voracious comes from the Latin vorāre, "to devour." The word is usually associated with swallowing or devouring food in a ravenous manner, but it can be used of someone intensely involved in any activity. Pierre Salinger referred to President Kennedy as a "voracious reader," while Robert Bakker once likened the IRS to a "voracious, small-minded predator."
Vocabulary lists containing voracious
Eat Your Words
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Born a Crime
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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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.
Those increases coincide with the rise of data centers, which have voracious electricity needs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
Cruz, who fronts the voracious hardcore band KnuckleSandwich, says he sees TikTok as a major platform for hardcore fans to find one another.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2026
“Wuthering Heights” looks just as the voracious reader imagines it as they tear through the novel: drafty houses, windy moors, color and texture that bound from the screen.
From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026
Nvidia’s founders, like Hassabis, were drawn to the economic prospects of videogames — an industry that offered a rare combination of high sales volumes and voracious appetite for computing power.
From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026
“What can I do for you, oh ye of voracious appetites?”
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
