Synonym Chooser

How is the word gluttonous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of gluttonous are rapacious, ravenous, and voracious. While all these words mean "excessively greedy," 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

Where would rapacious be a reasonable alternative to gluttonous?

The words rapacious and gluttonous can be used in similar contexts, but rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice.

rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

When could ravenous be used to replace gluttonous?

While in some cases nearly identical to gluttonous, 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

When is it sensible to use voracious instead of gluttonous?

The synonyms voracious and gluttonous are sometimes interchangeable, but voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink.

teenagers are often voracious eaters

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 gluttonous The only way to deliver meaningful integration for marketers At some point during the gluttonous gobbling of agencies that led to today’s holding companies, that lesson got lost. Tim Maleeny, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025 Another one of these gluttonous projects is hardly surprising. Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 5 Apr. 2025 To devour one in a single bite would be gluttonous. Tanya Sichynsky, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025 Football obstructs transfers One club who didn’t spend much in January by their own gluttonous standards were Chelsea, whose only ‘incomings’ amounted to the arrival of young midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne and a recall for Trevoh Chalabah from his loan spell at Crystal Palace. Tim Spiers, The Athletic, 14 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gluttonous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gluttonous
Adjective
  • People often stereotype crypto investors as reckless, young, or greedy.
    Jennifer Jolly, USA Today, 18 June 2025
  • To be patient but not to be greedy, Lilian thought now, studying Maureen’s pale eyelids.
    Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 15 June 2025
Adjective
  • This is epic fantasy set in a big world with a mysterious past (as well as a ravenous fungal ghost plague!).
    Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 13 June 2025
  • But there’s also a ravenous demand for easy escapism.
    Katie Marie Davies, Christian Science Monitor, 11 June 2025
Adjective
  • Rogen lands a few funny lines, but the jokes mostly serve to distract from the point of the story: that freedom is ephemeral and easily corrupted, while humans are inherently piggish (as opposed to the other way around), seizing the first opportunity to take more than their share.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 June 2025
  • The merged generative AI model is bloated and runs extremely slowly, possibly so piggish that using it on everyday tasks is exasperating and imprudent due to enormous delays while processing.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Gluttonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gluttonous. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on gluttonous

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