Synonyms of grasping

grasping 1 of 2

adjective

ˈgra-spiŋ 

as in greedy

having or marked by an eager and often selfish desire especially for material possessions

a grasping person who would rather buy a car he didn't need than give a dime to charity

Synonyms & Similar Words

• greedy
• eager
• mercenary
• covetous
• acquisitive
• avaricious
• avid
• coveting
• desirous
• moneygrubbing
• grabby
• rapacious
• materialistic
• devouring
• miserly
• ravenous
• insatiable
• discontented
• egocentric
• swinish
• grudging
• hoggish
• piggy
• gobbling
• piggish
• unquenchable
• lickerish
• unsatisfied
• gluttonous
• resentful
• commercialistic
• begrudging
• discontent
• itchy
• voracious
• egotistic
• egoistic
• self-centered
• malcontent
• self-seeking
• philistine

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• generous
• liberal
• charitable
• controlled
• altruistic
• magnanimous
• unselfish
• selfless
• bountiful
• handsome
• bounteous
• restrained
• moderate
• munificent
• unsparing
• content
• openhanded
• temperate
• satisfied
• nonmaterialistic
• openhearted
• freehanded
• sated
• greathearted

grasping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of grasp

1

as in understanding

to have a practical understanding of

he just doesn't grasp how important it is that he call when he'll be late

Synonyms & Similar Words

• understanding
• knowing
• comprehending
• appreciating
• possessing
• fathoming
• apprehending
• perceiving
• cognizing
• following
• having
• savvying
• kenning
• catching on (to)
• picking up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• misunderstanding
• misinterpreting
• misperceiving
• misconceiving
• misapprehending
• misknowing

2

as in clasping

to put one's arms around and press tightly

the departing soldier grasped his children a little closer than usual

Synonyms & Similar Words

• clasping
• hugging
• clinging
• cradling
• grabbing
• embracing
• holding
• enfolding
• wrapping
• crushing
• straining
• bear-hugging
• enclasping
• gripping
• clamping
• encircling
• patting
• folding
• locking
• enveloping
• snuggling
• stroking
• twining
• entwining
• fondling
• cuddling
• nuzzling
• petting
• bosoming
• embosoming
• nestling
• enwinding

3

as in holding

to reach for and take hold of by embracing with the fingers or arms

the attendant grasped my arm and steered me towards the door

Synonyms & Similar Words

• holding
• gripping
• taking
• clasping
• clutching
• clenching
• hanging on to
• catching
• laying hold of
• seizing
• snatching
• holding on (to)
• clinging (to)
• nabbing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• discharging
• releasing
• freeing
• liberating
• dropping
• giving
• passing
• relinquishing
• transmitting
• delivering
• transferring
• handing
• entrusting
• turning over
• handing over
• unhanding

4

as in knowing

to have a clear idea of

the emergency operator finally grasped what he was trying to tell her

Synonyms & Similar Words

• understanding
• knowing
• deciphering
• comprehending
• recognizing
• seeing
• appreciating
• realizing
• getting
• sensing
• perceiving
• discerning
• seizing
• apprehending
• conceiving
• assimilating
• digging
• cognizing
• making
• intuiting
• beholding
• decoding
• catching
• registering
• grokking
• twigging
• compassing
• tumbling (to)
• catching on (to)
• making out
• savvying
• fathoming
• digesting
• absorbing
• picking up on
• cottoning (to or on to)
• penetrating
• taking in
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• missing
• misinterpreting
• misunderstanding
• misreading
• mistaking
• misconstruing
• misperceiving
• misconceiving
• misapprehending

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective grasping differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of grasping are acquisitive, avaricious, covetous, and greedy. While all these words mean "having or showing a strong desire for especially material possessions," 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 is it sensible to use acquisitive instead of grasping?

The synonyms acquisitive and grasping are sometimes interchangeable, but acquisitive implies both eagerness to possess and ability to acquire and keep.

an eagerly acquisitive mind

When could avaricious be used to replace grasping?

In some situations, the words avaricious and grasping are roughly equivalent. However, avaricious implies obsessive acquisitiveness especially of money and strongly suggests stinginess.

an avaricious miser

When might covetous be a better fit than grasping?

The words covetous and grasping are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, covetous implies inordinate desire often for another's possessions.

covetous of his brother's country estate

Where would greedy be a reasonable alternative to grasping?

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

greedy for status symbols

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of grasping

Adjective

Apes, on the other hand, have much flatter, more grasping feet, indicating that they’re better suited for climbing than for repetitive ground contact. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2026

My hope is tenuous, grasping; scar tissue from 108 years of futility is never fully salved. —Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026

In this war lawyers invariably are depicted as soulless and grasping ambulance-chasers unconcerned about their clients’ welfare, and businesses as, well, soulless, grasping and unconcerned about their customers. —Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026

The grasping big toe also suggested this human relative spent more time in the trees. —CBS News, 26 Nov. 2025

The father, Fyodor Karamazov, is a grasping, lecherous, deceitful, and shameless widower. —Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025

The imperial Presidency: Designs on Greenland, promises to take back the Panama Canal, threats of tariffs on countries ranging from Colombia to Taiwan—how did a President who once pledged isolationism become so grasping? —Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025

Multiplied across numerous markets in every state, the LIHTC fuels more and more grasping for cash instead of reductions to make housing easier to create. —Roger Valdez, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024

Verb

Another project, Grasp-MPC, focused on robotic grasping in cluttered environments. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 May 2026

Lovebugs are vegetarians who feed on pollen and nectar and lack the speed, the jaws and grasping legs to catch and slaughter a mosquito. —Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 May 2026

They'll also be put through more repetitive drills, like the surprisingly difficult art of grasping objects like humans can. —New Atlas, 25 May 2026

Separately, a female Channel-3 presenter, Mobina Nasiri, addressed viewers while grasping an assault rifle with both hands. —Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 18 May 2026

The third season of The Comeback has aired over only two months, but the season’s core adversarial relationship, between the grasping desperation of the creative community and the steady encroachment of AI, has only taken on an increasingly dominant role in Hollywood’s ongoing conversations. —Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 11 May 2026

Unlike the thicker grasping fingers typical of primates, the aye-aye’s third digit is extraordinarily slender and highly flexible. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 10 May 2026

Unfortunately, Stephen wasn’t fully grasping the news when first given, due to him still being somewhat groggy from sedation. —Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026

Drake’s commitment to grasping every aspect of how to build and perform complicated characters was first forged at San Jose’s Montgomery Theater in 2019. —David John Chávez, Mercury News, 4 May 2026