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

voraciously

adverb

voraciousness

noun

See voracious defined for English-language learners

See voracious defined for kids

voracious was our Word of the Day on 03/15/2013. Hear the podcast!

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

His first arcade appearance in 1980 said nothing about the character, save an implicit, voracious need to gobble things.

— SI.com, "The 15 Most Influential Video Game Characters of All Time", 4 July 2017
China's top online retailers and U.S. superstore giant Walmart are scrambling to satisfy the voracious appetites of consumers excited about the first American beef to arrive in the world's most populous nation in 14 years.

— reuters, Fortune, "After 14 Years, China is Ready to Tuck Into U.S. Beef Imports Again", 1 July 2017
His first arcade appearance in 1980 said nothing about the character, save an implicit, voracious need to gobble things.

— lisa eadicicco, Time, "The 15 Most Influential Video Game Characters", 30 June 2017
Reyes, a voracious user of social media, frequently posts videos of Cabrera and Cespedes.

— james wagner, New York Times, "The Mets Brought Them Together, and May Pull Them Apart", 27 June 2017
What’s less arguable is that the Whole Foods acquisition will give Amazon a vast new array of consumer data to feed its voracious appetite for information about customer habits.

— michael hiltzik, chicagotribune.com, "Will Amazon change the food business — or will the food business change Amazon?", 19 June 2017
Trump is known as a voracious consumer of cable news, and has reacted on Twitter to both of those shows.

— ryan beene, Bloomberg.com, "Foreign Carmakers Borrow From Reagan for TV Ad Targeting Trump", 7 June 2017
Seeking to avoid politics, Mr. Mattis, a voracious reader of history, said the American public had long been conflicted about the burdens of an international role.

— michael r. gordon, New York Times, "Mattis Beseeches Officials at Singapore Conference to ‘Bear With Us’", 2 June 2017
But there are so many of the voracious pests out there this spring that some trees are already being defoliated, Stafford said, and more are likely to be stripped of their leaves before the fungus can have a real impact.

— gregory b. hladky, courant.com, "Fungus Killing Gypsy Moth Caterpillars, But Infestation Isn't Over Yet", 1 June 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

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First Known Use: 1635

See Words from the same year

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.