Synonyms: Greedy

From Ebenezer Scrooge to Cookie Monster, the world is full of greedy characters and great words to describe them. For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. avaricious
    immoderately desirous of acquiring something
    It was roughly four times what even the most avaricious moneylender would charge. The Name of the Wind
    Avarice is greed, so avaricious is greedy.
  2. covetous
    immoderately desirous of acquiring something
    Whereas Dickens describes Scrooge as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner,” that still leaves plenty of room to imagine what he was like when he was getting started in 1800. Washington Post (Oct 22, 2019)
    If you covet something, you want it very badly — maybe even badly enough that you'd do something dishonest to get it.
  3. cupidity
    extreme greed for material wealth
    The coins in his hand, he stared at her, helpless before his own cupidity. Tiger, Tiger
  4. gluttonous
    given to excess in consumption of especially food or drink
    This is garish, macho, gluttonous food TV aimed squarely at young people with short attention spans. The Guardian (May 15, 2013)
    Glutire means "to gulp down" or "to swallow" in Latin, and a glut of something is too much of it. A glutton is someone who eats too much, or has an oversize appetite.
  5. insatiable
    impossible to fulfill, appease, or gratify
    The price of sugar dropped and Europe developed an insatiable sweet tooth. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
    Satiety is the state of being full, particularly with food. So to be insatiable is to have hunger — literally or figuratively — that cannot be satisfied.
  6. miserly
    characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
    Scrooge, of course, starts the story as a miserly grouch, and ends it charitably. New York Times (Nov 13, 2019)
    A miser is a particular kind of greedy person who resists sharing or spending their wealth.
  7. penurious
    excessively unwilling to spend
    In character he was a saving, penurious creature, without one single sympathy outside his own immediate interests. Lever, Charles James
    Penurious is a synonym for miserly.
  8. rapacious
    excessively greedy and grasping
    Today, sophisticated and highly automated production greenhouses around the world feed a rapacious consumer market. Washington Post (Apr 3, 2019)
  9. selfish
    concerned chiefly with your own advantage
    When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival. Life of Pi
  10. stingy
    unwilling to spend
    Elizabeth longed for her father’s approval, but he was stingy with his praise. Votes for Women!
  11. voracious
    excessively greedy and grasping
    Newspaper editors evinced a voracious appetite for news of the latest breakthroughs. Big Science
    Vorare means "to devour" in Latin. You can see the same root in herbivore, for example. Voracious means having an enormous appetite. Voracious is not always a negative word. For example, it's considered a good thing to be a voracious reader.
Created on Mon Jun 01 13:30:26 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Mar 22 17:40:40 EDT 2021)

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