greed

noun

\ ˈgrēd

Definition of greed

: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed motivated by naked ambition and greed

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Examples of greed in a Sentence

He was a ruthless businessman, motivated by naked ambition and greed. don't let greed for riches control you

Recent Examples on the Web

Soho does bear more than a passing resemblance to his creator, and the series serves as an allegory for the lasting devastation of apartheid and its twin companions, greed and guilt. — Julie Belcove, WSJ, "William Kentridge Tackles the History of Apartheid and Colonialism in His Latest Production," 4 Dec. 2018 The oligarchy in this country, whose greed is insatiable, is destroying Lincoln's vision of America, is destroying our vision of America, and is moving us in a direction of the few, by the few, for the few. — Evan Halper, latimes.com, "Democrats vie to impress the party’s elite, and audition for the 2020 presidential race," 15 May 2018 To do otherwise is to be swept along by the general greed and fear. — The Economist, "A case for owning euro-zone shares," 9 June 2018 Instead, Bezos and company offer only fantasies of space travel, along with rote tales of the greed and ruthlessness that follow their achievements. — Jacob Silverman, Longreads, "The Billionaire Philanthropist," 13 Mar. 2018 Motivated not by greed or self interest, Swildens stepped headfirst into one of the hottest Silicon Valley fights of the last decade, Waymo v. Uber, and won. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "A Solo Engineer Challenged a Waymo Self-Driving Patent—And Won," 3 Oct. 2018 The mistrust of bureaucracy and human greed that’s fueled his environmental endeavors betrays a greater wariness of power, privilege, and the myth of masculinity. — Marley Marius, Vogue, "An Ode to Robert Redford, on What May Be His Retirement From Acting," 25 Sep. 2018 Even without the rise of online pharmacies, there have been multiple food and medicine adulteration cases, some due to carelessness, some due to greed. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Musical instrument goes flat in presence of adulterated medicine," 17 Sep. 2018 And the ones who donated only a little actually felt worse about themselves, indicating a biological link between greed and shame. — Brennan Kilbane, Allure, "How Random Acts of Kindness Can Improve Your Health and Wellbeing," 1 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'greed.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.