voracity
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of voracity
1520–30; < Latin vorācitās, equivalent to vorāc- (stem of vorāx ) gluttonous + -itās -ity
Explanation
Use the noun voracity when you're describing someone's enormous, gluttonous appetite. Some people eat a little and others eat a lot. The ones who eat an extreme amount have the quality of voracity — basically, it means overeating. Sometimes this word refers to literally eating too much, and other times it refers to the desire to overeat. Anyone might eat a couple of hot dogs, but only someone with voracity could eat ten or eleven in one sitting. At the root of voracity is the Latin word vorare, which means "to devour."
Vocabulary lists containing voracity
"The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Anger Is a Gift
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Greed
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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.
Place your fresh pakoras onto a paper towel-lined platter and watch as you, or anyone near you, scarfs them down with the same voracity with which one would demolish a carton of McDonald's french fries.
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2023
A magician who later challenged spoon benders, mind readers and faith healers with such voracity that he became regarded as the country’s foremost skeptic.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2020
I am not a writer of John Lennon’s notoriety, and I am not possessed of his voracity for sensationalism.
From Washington Post • Aug. 28, 2020
As the photographer uncovers his beloved medium and iconic subjects, he does so with unquestioning voracity.
From Slate • May 7, 2018
In Tjaden this is voracity, in Müller it is foresight.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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.
