as in avarice
an intense selfish desire for wealth or possessions
don't let greed for riches control you
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of greed
That means avoiding your own investment greed, as well as requests from your adult children for a loan or other financial help.
—
Terry Savage, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2026
The vitality of her language, its frolicsome dance with personification, communicates its own resistance in the face of an indifferent world, exploited by imperialist greed and barbaric, militant might.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026
According to Butcher, since Nancy Guthrie is the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, the clear motive is financial greed.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 2 June 2026
For three weeks, federal prosecutor Faiza Alhambra said, the government has presented testimony from witnesses and provided examples of the defendants’ greed.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for greed
Terry Savage, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2026
The vitality of her language, its frolicsome dance with personification, communicates its own resistance in the face of an indifferent world, exploited by imperialist greed and barbaric, militant might.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026
According to Butcher, since Nancy Guthrie is the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, the clear motive is financial greed.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 2 June 2026
For three weeks, federal prosecutor Faiza Alhambra said, the government has presented testimony from witnesses and provided examples of the defendants’ greed.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for greed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for greed
Noun
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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
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These morality tales, focusing on figures like Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky, make an implicit claim that individual avarice somehow explains the excesses of an entire era.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
Noun
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People in the comments shared in the woman’s frustration, agreeing that her mother's greediness needs to be addressed.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
5 Oct. 2025
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When kids didn’t withdraw, it was sometimes seen as greediness.—
Mary Frances Ruskell,
CNN Money,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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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
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Unlike the specialized literary magazine and its informal cousin, the literary blog, the general-interest newspaper has a kind of noble rapacity, an encyclopedic ambition to wrap its arms around the whole of the world.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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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
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The stories of corporate cupidity and stupidity are perhaps more relevant now with technology discrupting markets.—
Frank Racioppi,
Forbes.com,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The sun in Gemini echoes this sentiment, adding the desire to align with someone special.—
Lisa Stardust,
PEOPLE,
6 June 2026
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An extended chapter of Hector on a shoot in Argentina could stand by itself as a wonderful short story about male ego, vanity, desire and loyalty.—
John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2026
Noun
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Simple fasting from food can be ruined — rendered not pleasing to Allah — if spoiled by telling lies, slander, denouncing someone behind his back, swearing a false oath, greed or covetousness.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Some laud the nation’s rapaciousness.—
Tyler Green,
The Atlantic,
21 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Greed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/greed. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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