GREED Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

greed

noun

ˈgrēd

Definition of greed

as in avarice

an intense selfish desire for wealth or possessions don't let greed for riches control you

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of greed Industry is where innocence goes to die, choked out in bed by various personifications of greed. — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026 Growing profit margins and perceptions of greed are hard to overlook. — Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 8 July 2026 In their view, high prices are not market failures but moral ones, the result of greed and corruption, which can be vanquished with the right intention. — Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026 Some rabbinic readings attribute Lot’s hesitation to leave Sodom to his immoral greed and inordinate wealth. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for greed

Recent Examples of Synonyms for greed

Noun

The theory here is that avarice and ambition can best be defeated by means of somebody else’s avarice and ambition; power’s inevitable corrupting effect is thereby mitigated or delayed.

— Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
And the forces that contributed to their demise — avarice, ignorance and a lack of imagination — are ascendant, illustrated by plans for a five-story Rolex shop on Las Olas and the Gekko district being built in downtown West Palm Beach.

— Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 3 June 2026

Definition of avarice

Noun

This variation of socialism aimed to blunt the rapacity of capitalism rather than sharpen its contradictions and hasten the coming revolution.

— Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026
The French—and, later, Anglo (Wilde, Beardsley, Rossetti)—attitude, mannered and morbid, was perhaps too Old World, at odds with our cheerful, Protestant rapacity.

— Olivia Kan-Sperling, Artforum, 2 May 2026

Definition of rapacity

Noun

Many critics of such wanton cosmic acquisitiveness balk at the idea of scarcely regulated private-sector lunar strip-mining.

— Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 14 May 2026
Following too closely in its protagonist’s footsteps, The Queen of Versailles presents only two options — tough but spiritually fulfilling material deprivation or unconstrained acquisitiveness.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025

Definition of acquisitiveness

Noun

Most accounts of the era blame greed—a new ethic of cupidity that displaced whatever youthful idealism remained from the 1960s.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
The stories of corporate cupidity and stupidity are perhaps more relevant now with technology discrupting markets.

— Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2026

Definition of cupidity

Noun

Cary, torn between his own desires and others’ expectations, can’t seem to determine where his loyalties lie.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 15 July 2026
Unrequited yearning, alcoholism, and suppressed desires abound in the 80-minute one-act play, which won Escola a Tony Award.

— Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 15 July 2026