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ravenousness

 - 3 dictionary results

rav⋅en⋅ous

  [rav-uh-nuhs]
Use ravenousness in a Sentence
–adjective
1. extremely hungry; famished; voracious: feeling ravenous after a hard day's work.
2. extremely rapacious: a ravenous jungle beast.
3. intensely eager for gratification or satisfaction.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < OF ravineus, equiv. to ravin(er) to raven 2 + -eus -ous

Related forms:
rav⋅en⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
rav⋅en⋅ous⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. greedy, starved, devouring. Ravenous, ravening, voracious suggest a greediness for food and usually intense hunger. Ravenous implies extreme hunger, or a famished condition: ravenous wild beasts. Ravening adds the idea of fierceness and savagery, esp. as shown in a violent manner of acquiring food: ravening wolves. Voracious implies craving or eating a great deal of food: a voracious child; a voracious appetite. It may also be used figuratively: a voracious reader. 2. predatory.

Antonyms:
1. sated.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ravenousness
rav·en·ous   (rāv'ə-nəs)   
adj.  

  1. Extremely hungry; voracious.

  2. Rapacious; predatory.

  3. Greedy for gratification: ravenous for power. See Synonyms at voracious.


[Middle English, from Old French ravineux, from raviner, to take by force, from Vulgar Latin *rapīnāre, from Latin rapīna, plunder; see rapine.]
rav'en·ous·ly adv., rav'en·ous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ravenous 
1412, "obsessed with plundering, extremely greedy," from O.Fr. ravinos "rapacious, violent," from raviner "to seize," from ravine "violent rush, robbery" (see ravine). Meaning "voracious, very hungry" is from c.1430.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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