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.
You mention he doesn’t consume art with the voracity you do, but I’d warn against mentioning this to him.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
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
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
In another piece of dating advice, Alexa spikes the idea of coffee dates with the voracity of an all-star volleyball player.
From The Verge ● Jan. 7, 2018
He felt the tingling in his hands, the lightness in his head, the heaviness of his heart, and it consumed him, filled him to the brim with a bitterness and voracity that burned his throat.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
