greed

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Other forms: greeds

Greed is an overwhelming urge to have more of something, usually more than you really need. Watching kids at a birthday party furiously grabbing for candy from a piñata, you might find yourself surprised at their greed.

Greed is often connected with money, a desire to acquire as much of it as possible, but it can refer to that kind of urge toward anything, like food or material possessions. When you see greed, it's an ugly thing, whether you're observing a greedy person or the greed of a huge company that treats its workers badly in order to make more money. Greed comes from the Old English grædig, or "voracious," which means "always hungry for more."

Definitions of greed

1. noun

   reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)
   synonyms: avarice, avaritia, covetousness, rapacity

   type of:

   deadly sin, mortal sin

   an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace
2. noun

   excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
   types:

   avarice, avariciousness, covetousness, cupidity

   extreme greed for material wealth

   possessiveness

   excessive desire to possess or dominate

   acquisitiveness

   strong desire to acquire and possess

   bibliomania

   preoccupation with the acquisition and possession of books

   retentiveness, retentivity

   the property of retaining possessions that have been acquired

   type of:

   desire

   an inclination to want things