avaricious
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (1)
- immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth“they are avaricious and will do anything for money”“casting covetous eyes on his neighbor's fields”“a grasping old miser”“grasping commercialism”“greedy for money and power”“grew richer and greedier”“prehensile employers stingy with raises for their employees”Synonyms: covetousgrabbygraspinggreedyprehensileOpposite unacquisitiveSimilar acquisitive
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: Cf. F. avaricieux.
Actuated by avarice; greedy of gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property.
Synonyms: Greedy; stingy; rapacious; griping; sordid; close. — Avaricious, Covetous, Parsimonious, Penurious, Miserly, Niggardly. The avaricious eagerly desire wealth with a view to hoard it. The covetous grasp after it at the expense of others, though not of necessity with a design to save, since a man may be covetous and yet a spendthrift. The penurious, parsimonious, and miserly save money by disgraceful self-denial, and the niggardly by meanness in their dealing with others. We speak of persons as covetous in getting, avaricious in retaining, parsimonious in expending, penurious or miserly in modes of living, niggardly in dispensing.
— Av′wb-a2′>′a·ri′wb-a1′>′cious·ly, adverb — Av′wb-a2′>′a·ri′wb-a1′>′cious·ness, noun
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54