Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday May 15, 2002
esurient \ih-SUR-ee-uhnt; -ZUR-\
, adjective:
Hungry; greedy.
The enemy then was an esurient Soviet Union which, having swallowed up Eastern Europe, had imposed a totalitarian system on countries just liberated from Nazism.
-- Arnold Beichman, "As Truman envisioned our role", Washington Times, April 23, 2002
These new censors, the deconstructionists, take the most luscious and delicious apple and show it to a hungry person. They then seal the fruit with plastic wrap and demand that the esurient victim enjoy its flavour.
-- Michael Coren, "Behold the deconstructionist, who liberates literature by confining it to a cult", Alberta Report, April 10, 1995
Whilst Yeats contemplates the lake and its water-fowl, esurient Edward devours huge loin chops, followed by stewed chicken and platesful of curried eggs, for he is suffering terrific qualms of conscience.
-- George Moore, Hail and Farewell
Esurient comes from the present participle of Latin esurire, "to be hungry, to desire eagerly," from edere, "to eat."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for esurient
