Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of voracious are gluttonous, rapacious, and ravenous. While all these words mean "excessively greedy," voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink.

teenagers are often voracious eaters

When could gluttonous be used to replace voracious?

In some situations, the words gluttonous and voracious are roughly equivalent. However, 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

When can rapacious be used instead of voracious?

While the synonyms rapacious and voracious are close in meaning, rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice.

rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

When might ravenous be a better fit than voracious?

While in some cases nearly identical to voracious, 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

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 voracious Across the country, communities are grappling with the boom of data centers and supercomputing facilities, which consume voracious amounts of electricity and water and can emit smog-producing pollutants. Wendi C. Thomas, ProPublica, 22 Aug. 2025 But, like Eze, Paz has a voracious appetite for take-ons, constantly looking to burst past opponents with clever feints and elegant jinks. Elias Burke, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2025 The die-off was attributed to both the voracious carp and the annual lowering of water levels by the lake’s owner, FirstLight Energy. John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2025 Power costs and environmental stakes Those environmental concerns are rooted in Bitcoin’s voracious appetite for electricity. Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for voracious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for voracious
Adjective
  • Fleming and Iwamasa, as well as greedy ketamine providing doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez have all previously entered guilty pleas in the Perry case.
    Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Women are greedy, untrustworthy, weak and inferior, these influencers say.
    Will Carless, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • As for their own personal favorites, Walzideh has shifted from an avid romance reader to a romantasy fan.
    Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2025
  • In January, the Birding & Wildlife Festival brings together avid avian enthusiasts.
    Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Screwworms—or technically New World Screwworms (NWS)—are parasitic flies that spawn hundreds of ravenous larvae in the wounds and orifices of a wide range of warm-blooded animals.
    Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 25 Aug. 2025
  • For seven years, Michael Polsky has been trying to build a high-voltage power line from the windswept prairies of Kansas to the ravenous electrical grids of the Midwest and East Coast.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • She’s best known for her enthusiastic and approachable ditties on key subjects, like potty training.
    Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Educators and parents are increasingly enthusiastic that matching learning styles to students will reap academic rewards.
    Suzanne Wright, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The freezing rain then traps lichen under a thick layer of ice where hungry reindeer can’t reach the food, according to Anna Skarin, a reindeer husbandry expert and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences professor.
    Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
  • These facilities, dense with high-performance servers and cooling systems, are among the most power-hungry assets in the country.
    Robert Rapier, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Plus, the service lost subscribers last quarter—a show people are excited about could lure back some whose bundles expired.
    Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Like her popular work with Timberland, which includes glossy, patent leather versions of the brand’s boots and a 14-inch heel, Carter’s Nike debut wasn’t afraid to take chances, which has us even more excited for what’s to come next from the collaboration.
    Riley Jones, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • What started as a one-off Eventbrite invitation to a pop-up called Mic Drop Workshop has, seven years later, grown into the leading pipeline of women speakers ready for the stage; and the first stop for event planners eager to bring more female voices to the mic.
    Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Head coach Dave Canales, who met with Hooker twice during the pre-draft process, was eager to work with him, and the 27-year-old QB was quick to accept the Panthers’ offer as his official NFL second chance.
    Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • All hail this ardent, ferocious, baroque, bonkers bard.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Shinola continues to be an ardent promoter of Made in America.
    Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 7 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Voracious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/voracious. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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