Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective avaricious differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of avaricious are acquisitive, covetous, grasping, and greedy. While all these words mean "having or showing a strong desire for especially material possessions," avaricious implies obsessive acquisitiveness especially of money and strongly suggests stinginess.

an avaricious miser

When is it sensible to use acquisitive instead of avaricious?

Although the words acquisitive and avaricious have much in common, acquisitive implies both eagerness to possess and ability to acquire and keep.

an eagerly acquisitive mind

In what contexts can covetous take the place of avaricious?

The words covetous and avaricious can be used in similar contexts, but covetous implies inordinate desire often for another's possessions.

covetous of his brother's country estate

How does the word grasping relate to other synonyms for avaricious?

Grasping adds to covetous and greedy an implication of selfishness and often suggests unfair or ruthless means.

a hard grasping businesswoman who cheated her associates

When might greedy be a better fit than avaricious?

The meanings of greedy and avaricious largely overlap; however, greedy stresses lack of restraint and often of discrimination in desire.

greedy for status symbols

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of avaricious The comedy-drama follows a Gen Z content creator who returns to her ancestral home seeking viral material, only to encounter her deceased brother’s ghost while dealing with avaricious relatives. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 Apr. 2025 This nation state, my home, is built on a quagmire of lies sold to the young as truths; sold to the insecure as truths; sold by the avaricious, the power-hungry, the conceited, the overwhelmingly white and male. Christine Winter, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025 Few places in the U.S. are more fraught with unresolved tension than South Dakota’s Black Hills, land stolen from the Sioux after treaties had been signed in order for avaricious Americans to pursue gold. Grayson Haver Currin, Outside Online, 7 July 2024 Ever since the United States liberated Kuwait from the avaricious clutches of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War of 1990-91, the Kuwaitis have supported U.S. priorities in the Middle East and elsewhere. Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 14 Feb. 2022 See All Example Sentences for avaricious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for avaricious
Adjective
  • To be clear, most of the blame for this climate crisis goes to the greedy fossil fuel executives and big agriculture executives, their greenwashing PR firms, and the politicians in their pockets.
    Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
  • But Septime Webre’s choreography is supposed to have the air of wild and sometimes frenzied social dancing, of Charlestons and Fox Trots and Black Bottoms, of indulging the glorious excesses of the 1920s before the greedier side of the American Dream comes crashing down a few years later.
    David Lyman, Cincinnati Enquirer, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The mercenary group for years propped up militant groups and authoritarian regimes in the Sahel in exchange for mineral resources — including huge concessions in Sudan’s gold mining industry.
    Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Reuters reported in April 2019 that Prince had been shopping a plan to topple the Maduro regime using mercenary soldiers.
    Kevin G. Hall, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • The evil-doing in question is simple enough, at least for a franchise that has always been built around the existence of a clandestine organization of magicians (The Eye) who love using their skills to take down bad guys and quite literally share the wealth with their eager audiences.
    Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Ghana has been one of the first countries to make major Article 6 sales, and some other African nations are eager to follow, Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special climate envoy, told Semafor.
    Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Building out that platform and benefiting as more teams are plugged into it has meant Leonsis and MSE have stayed acquisitive.
    Ian Thomas, CNBC, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Retail e-commerce penetration had surged during the pandemic, which brought a rush of acquisitive capital into the space.
    Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • For most players, that amount of storage is realistically enough for all but the most covetous data hoarders.
    Matt Kamen, Wired News, 3 Aug. 2025
  • This is, in part, correct: Voldemort is extremely covetous of power.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Avaricious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/avaricious. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025.

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