acquisitiveness

acquisitive (əˈkwɪzɪtɪv)

—*adj*
	inclined or eager to acquire things, esp material possessions: we currently live in an acquisitive society

ac'quisitively

—*adv*

ac'quisitiveness

—n

acquisitive (əˈkwɪzɪtɪv)

—*adj*
	inclined or eager to acquire things, esp material possessions: we currently live in an acquisitive society

ac'quisitively

—*adv*

ac'quisitiveness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

acquisitive

1630s, "owned through acquisition," from L. acquisitivus, pp. of acquirere (see acquisition). Meaning "given to acquisition, avaricious" is from 1826 (in acquisitiveness).

Example sentences

The thrill of the chase has drained away, and all that's left is a panicked

psychopathic acquisitiveness.

Both exhibited such wanton, body-seizing acquisitiveness that reason went

completely out the window.

Their motive, therefore, was not mere acquisitiveness.

He has sensuality, but it is soon appeased and is invariably subject to his

acquisitiveness.

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Related Words

cupidity

Matching Quote

"It must not be thought that the cowardly feeling of caution and uneasy self-preservation is innate in the English character. It is the consequence of a corpulence derived from wealth and of the training of all thoughts and passions for acquisitiveness."

-Alexander Herzen