grasping

1 of 2

adjective

grasp·​ing ˈgra-spiŋ 

1

: used, designed, or adapted to grasp

When the eggs hatch, the first-stage grub … is a minute but highly active larva with well-developed grasping legs.

—John Alcock

His choice of surgical instruments includes everything from grasping forceps and trimmers to motorized shavers and drills.

—Arnold Schechter

2

: desiring material possessions urgently and excessively and often to the point of ruthlessness

Her grasping children fought over her property when she died.

graspingly

ˈgra-spiŋ-lē 

adverb

graspingness noun

grasping

2 of 2

present participle of grasp entry 1

Synonyms of grasping

Adjective

• greedy
• eager
• mercenary
• acquisitive
• avaricious
• covetous

Choose the Right Synonym for grasping

covetous, greedy, acquisitive, grasping, avaricious mean having or showing a strong desire for especially material possessions.

covetous implies inordinate desire often for another's possessions.

covetous of his brother's country estate

greedy stresses lack of restraint and often of discrimination in desire.

greedy for status symbols

acquisitive implies both eagerness to possess and ability to acquire and keep.

an eagerly acquisitive mind

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

avaricious implies obsessive acquisitiveness especially of money and strongly suggests stinginess.

an avaricious miser

Examples of grasping in a Sentence

Adjective

Her grasping children fought over her property when she died.

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

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

Engineers still struggle to replicate a grasping human hand, or the hand-eye coordination of a human brain. — Natan Linder, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 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

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

see grasp entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1577, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for grasping

• clasping
• gasping
• rasping

Kids Definition

grasping

adjective

grasp·​ing ˈgras-piŋ 

: greedy sense 3, avaricious

graspingly adverb

graspingness noun