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Synonyms of avaricious
Avaricious
4 dictionary results for: avaricious
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
av·a·ri·cious 
[av-uh-rish-uhs] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[av-uh-rish-uhs] Pronunciation Key –adjective
| characterized by avarice; greedy; covetous. |
—Related forms
av·a·ri·cious·ly, adverb
av·a·ri·cious·ness, noun
—Synonyms Avaricious, covetous, greedy, rapacious share the sense of desiring to possess more of something than one already has or might in normal circumstances be entitled to. Avaricious often implies a pathological, driven greediness for money or other valuables and usually suggests a concomitant miserliness: the cheerless dwelling of an avaricious usurer. Covetous implies a powerful and usually illicit desire for the property or possessions of another: The book collector was openly covetous of my rare first edition. Greedy, the most general of these terms, suggests a naked and uncontrolled desire for almost anything—food and drink, money, emotional gratification: embarrassingly greedy for praise. Rapacious, stronger and more assertive than the other terms, implies an aggressive, predatory, insatiable, and unprincipled desire for possessions and power: a rapacious frequenter of tax sales and forced auctions.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| av·a·ri·cious
(āv'ə-rĭsh'əs) Pronunciation Key
adj. Immoderately desirous of wealth or gain; greedy. av'a·ri'cious·ly adv., av'a·ri'cious·ness n. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| avaricious | |
adjective | |
| 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" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Avaricious
Av`a*ri"cious\, a. [Cf. F. avaricieux.] Actuated by avarice; greedy of gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property. Syn: Greedy; stingy; rapacious; griping; sordid; close. Usage: Avaricious, Covetous, Parsimonious, Penurious, Miserly, Niggardly. The avaricious eagerly 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`a*ri"cious*ly, adv. -- Av`a*ri"cious*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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