appetite

noun

ap·​pe·​tite ˈa-pə-ˌtīt 

1

: any of the instinctive desires necessary to keep up organic life

especially : the desire to eat

He has a hearty appetite.

2

a

: an inherent craving

an insatiable appetite for work

b

: taste, preference

… the cultural appetites of the time …

—J. D. Hart

appetitive

ˈa-pə-ˌtī-tiv 

adjective

Synonyms

• belly
• emptiness
• famishment
• hunger
• munchies
• stomach

Examples of appetite in a Sentence

He has a healthy appetite.

Some common symptoms are tiredness, nausea, and loss of appetite.

I had no appetite and couldn't sleep.

Recent Examples on the Web

The 2023 update has brought some clarity and projects like Artemis which specifically aim to develop autonomous weapons suggest there is now an appetite to push forward in this area. —David Hambling, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025

Work up an appetite with a bike ride to the Hemingway Home and Museum, at 907 Whitehead St.; or Truman’s Little White House, at 111 Front St.; or to Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park off the harbor for a tour and a lounge on the beach. —Mark Gauert, Sun Sentinel, 16 May 2025

Laura, who lost her daughter Cathy months prior, is already looking after a young foster child named Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips), a strange, selectively mute boy who has an insatiable appetite and a blood feud with the family cat. —Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 16 May 2025

Side effects include pain and tenderness at the site of the injection, low-grade fever, loss of appetite and nausea. —Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 15 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English appetit, appetite "inherent drive or urge (in physiology), desire for food or drink, longing," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French appetit, apetite (also continental Old French apetit), borrowed from Latin appetītus "natural or instinctive desire," from appetī-, variant stem of appetere "to try to reach, have a natural desire for, seek to obtain, strive after" (from ap- ap- + petere "to direct one's course to, seek to obtain") + -tu-, -tus, suffix of action nouns — more at feather entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing appetite

• hearty appetite
• lose one's appetite
• ravenous appetite
• whet one's appetite

Rhymes for appetite

• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite
• amorite
• amphitrite
• analyte
• anchorite
• andesite
• anhydrite

Kids Definition

appetite

noun

ap·​pe·​tite ˈap-ə-ˌtīt 

1

: a natural desire especially for food

2

: taste entry 2 sense 4

an appetite for adventure

Medical Definition

appetite

noun

ap·​pe·​tite ˈap-ə-ˌtīt 

: any of the instinctive desires necessary to keep up organic life

especially : the desire to eat

appetitive

-ˌtīt-iv 

adjective