Word of the Day

: October 11, 2023

voracity

noun vuh-RASS-uh-tee

What It Means

Voracity refers to an immoderate eagerness or enthusiasm for something, or to an intense desire to eat or consume something.

// Elena reads books with a voracity that requires multiple weekly visits to the library.

// After ten straight hours of driving, Marv ate his late dinner with a voracity that would impress a wolverine.

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voracity in Context

“Wildfires also emerged at tough-to-control voracity and speed, ravaging hundreds of thousands of acres across southern Europe and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.” — Forbes, 27 Sept. 2021

Did You Know?

The insatiable word nerds among us will appreciate voracity, a word used to refer to both literal and figurative appetites that simply cannot be quelled. Voracity comes to us (via Middle French) from the Latin word voracitas, which itself comes from the combining of vorax, meaning “voracious,” with -itas, the Latin equivalent of the English noun suffix -ity. Voracity is one of two English words that mean “the quality or state of being voracious.” The other is voraciousness, which was once considered archaic but has made a comeback. Because voracity developed from non-English forerunners, rather than being created in English from voracious (as was voraciousness), the word may strike some English speakers as an unusual formation. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the more familiar-looking voraciousness has reappeared—most likely through a process of reinvention by people unfamiliar with voracity.