voracious

play

adjective vo·ra·cious \ vȯ-ˈrā-shəs , və- \

Definition of voracious

1 :having a huge appetite :ravenous

2 :excessively eager :insatiable

a voracious reader

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voraciously

adverb

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voraciousness

noun

See voracious defined for English-language learners

See voracious defined for kids

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Examples of voracious in a Sentence

He has a voracious appetite.
it seemed like the voracious kitten was eating her weight in food every day

Recent Examples of voracious from the Web

On the horizon was a Washington team, powered by a voracious defense, that would go on to reach the College Football Playoff.

— oregonian/oregonlive sports, OregonLive.com, "George Horton signs contract extension with Oregon Ducks through 2020 season," 22 Aug. 2017
New Sea Angler found voracious lingcod down off of Point Reyes and caught individual fish up to 21 pounds, along with full limits of rockfish.

— sacbee, "Stripers and kings are bringing smiles to anglers in some north-state waters," 19 Aug. 2017
The most obvious is the bull market’s longevity, fueled largely by the Federal Reserve’s ultralow interest rates and voracious bond buying.

— jeff sommer, New York Times, "The Stock Market Has Been Magical. It Can’t Last.," 19 Aug. 2017
Franzen noted in another blog post that the Army Corps of Engineers' feeble response to the threat posed by an invasion of the Great Lakes by the voracious Asian carp may be inadequate.

— milwaukee, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Real Time newsletter for Aug. 15," 14 Aug. 2017
The truth is that Pakistan's voracious and frequently interrupted democracy has sprawled and flourished in the last decade.

— chicagotribune.com, "The downfall of Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif and the triumph of stupidity," 4 Aug. 2017
A voracious student of the game’s past, Belichick ensures that safeties Nolan Cromwell and Ed Reed are rooming together.

— tim layden, SI.com, "The MMQB All-Time Draft: The Ultimate Football Fantasy," 19 July 2017
Each step pushes voracious clouds up from the tussocks.

— michael engelhard, Alaska Dispatch News, "Bloodsucking, bloodthirsty, blood-crazed predators," 15 July 2017
Blazer was a large man with voracious appetites, not all of them in accordance with the law.

— seattle times staff & news services, The Seattle Times, "The week’s passages," 14 July 2017

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

Did You Know?

Voracious is one of several English words that derive from the Latin verb vorare, which means "to eat greedily" or "to devour." "Vorare" is also an ancestor of "devour" and of the "-ivorous" words, which describe the diets of various animals. These include "carnivorous" ("meat-eating"), "herbivorous" ("plant-eating"), "omnivorous" ("feeding on both animals and plants"), "frugivorous" ("fruit-eating"), "graminivorous" ("feeding on grass"), and "piscivorous" ("fish-eating").

Origin and Etymology of voracious

Latin vorac-, vorax, from vorare to devour; akin to Old English ācweorran to guzzle, Latin gurges whirlpool, Greek bibrōskein to devour

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1635

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voracious Synonyms

Synonyms

edacious, esurient, gluttonous, greedy, hoggish, piggish, rapacious, ravenous, swinish

Antonyms

apathetic, indifferent, uneager, unenthusiastic

Related Words

hearty, wolfish; devouring, gobbling, gorging, gormandizing, gulping; insatiable, unquenchable, unslakable; empty, famished, hungry, peckish [chiefly British], starved, starving; malnourished, underfed, undernourished

Near Antonyms

content, full, glutted, sated, satiated, satisfied, stuffed

Synonym Discussion of voracious

voracious, gluttonous, ravenous, rapacious mean excessively greedy. voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink.

- teenagers are often voracious eaters

gluttonous applies to one who delights in eating or acquiring things especially beyond the point of necessity or satiety.

- an admiral who was gluttonous for glory

ravenous implies excessive hunger and suggests violent or grasping methods of dealing with food or with whatever satisfies an appetite.

- a nation with a ravenous lust for territorial expansion

rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice.

- rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

VORACIOUS Defined for English Language Learners

voracious

play

adjective

Definition of voracious for English Language Learners

: having or showing a tendency to eat very large amounts of food

VORACIOUS Defined for Kids

voracious

play

adjective vo·ra·cious \ vȯ-ˈrā-shəs , və- \

Definition of voracious for Students

1 :very hungry :having a huge appetite

2 :very eager

a voracious reader

—

voraciously

adverb

Word Root of voracious

The Latin word vorāre, meaning “to eat greedily,” gives us the root vor. Words from the Latin vorāre have something to do with eating. An herbivorous animal eats only plants. A carnivorous animal eats only other animals. To devour is to eat up greedily. Anyone voracious likes to eat a lot.