voracious

[ vaw-rey-shuh s, voh-, vuh- ]

/ vɔˈreɪ ʃəs, voʊ-, və- /

adjective

craving or consuming large quantities of food: a voracious appetite.

exceedingly eager or avid: voracious readers; a voracious collector.

Nearby words

voodooism, voorkamer, voorskot, voortrekker, vor, voracious, voracity, vorarlberg, vorkuta, vorlage, voronezh

Origin of voracious

First recorded in 1625–35; voraci(ty) + -ous

SYNONYMS FOR voracious

1 See ravenous.

2 rapacious, insatiable.

Related forms

vo·ra·cious·ly, adverbvo·ra·cious·ness, nounun·vo·ra·cious, adjectiveun·vo·ra·cious·ly, adverb

un·vo·ra·cious·ness, noun

Can be confused

veracious vociferous voracious

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for voraciously

The critics have something of a point: Israelis voraciously consume media that, for the most part, operates uninhibited.
Is The Israeli Press Only "Partly Free"?|Ali Gharib|May 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He loved or loathed immediately, and he did both as voraciously as he smoked, spoke and drank.
Christopher Hitchens Dies: His Best Writing, Photos, and More||December 17, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Over about 10 years, Mozart voraciously incorporated different styles and motifs and developed his own voice.
The Myth of Innate Genius|David Shenk|May 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The imprudent colonists ate so voraciously that a fatal disease broke out among them, which raged with the utmost virulence.
Hernando Cortez|John S. C. Abbott

So that's why you see me tearing into these red apples so voraciously, Mr. Holmes!
The Adventures of the Eleven Cuff-Buttons|James Francis Thierry
Saplin' cast a look of scorn upon Shif'less Sol, but he brought the steak, and Paul ate again, for he was voraciously hungry.
The Forest Runners|Joseph A. Altsheler
When Meddings returned with a second box the major and the adjutant seized some biscuits and munched happily and voraciously.
Pushed and the Return Push|George Herbert Fosdike Nichols, (AKA Quex)
I need hardly say we eat of it voraciously, for the appetite delighted in any thing like vegetable food.
Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal;|Sherard Osborn

British Dictionary definitions for voraciously

voracious

/ (vɒˈreɪʃəs) /

adjective

devouring or craving food in great quantities

very eager or unremitting in some activityvoracious reading

Derived Forms

voraciously, adverbvoracity (vɒˈræsɪtɪ) or voraciousness, noun

Word Origin for voracious

C17: from Latin vorāx swallowing greedily, from vorāre to devour

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