voracious

adjective

vo·​ra·​cious və-ˈrā-shəs 

vȯ-

1

: having a huge appetite : ravenous

2

: excessively eager : insatiable

a voracious reader

voraciously adverb

voraciousness noun

Did you know?

Voracious is one of several English words that come from the Latin verb vorare, which means "to eat greedily" or "to devour." Vorare is also an ancestor of devour and of the -ivorous words that describe the diets of various creatures. These include carnivorous ("meat-eating"), herbivorous ("plant-eating"), omnivorous ("feeding on both animals and plants"), frugivorous ("fruit-eating"), graminivorous ("feeding on grass"), and piscivorous ("fish-eating").

Did you know?

Veracious or voracious?

Take care to distinguish between the near-homophones veracious and voracious, whose similarities in sound mask utterly different meanings. Veracious (“honest, truthful”), like its cousins veritable, verify, and very, concerns that which is true. Voracious (”having a greedy or insatiable appetite”), on the other hand, describes the urge to consume large quantities of something, often food, books, or ideas. One way to remember the difference is that the one with the E as its second letter means "truE," and the one with the O as its second letter means "ravenOus." Not coincidentally, these adjectives have near-homophonous noun derivatives: veracity ("truthfulness") and voracity ("the quality or state of being voracious").

Synonyms

• edacious
• esurient
• gluttonous
• greedy
• hoggish
• piggish
• rapacious
• ravenous
• swinish

Choose the Right Synonym for voracious

voracious, gluttonous, ravenous, rapacious mean excessively greedy.

voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink.

teenagers are often voracious eaters

gluttonous applies to one who delights in eating or acquiring things especially beyond the point of necessity or satiety.

an admiral who was gluttonous for glory

ravenous implies excessive hunger and suggests violent or grasping methods of dealing with food or with whatever satisfies an appetite.

a nation with a ravenous lust for territorial expansion

rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice.

rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

Examples of voracious in a Sentence

He has a voracious appetite.

it seemed like the voracious kitten was eating her weight in food every day

Recent Examples on the Web

This delightful gag gift nods to the bygone days of library cards—a nostalgic surprise for the voracious reader or librarian. —Malia Griggs, Glamour, 5 Dec. 2024

Madison devours entire sections of Barnes & Noble with her voracious appetite for reading. —Rebecca Loroff, Journal Sentinel, 25 Nov. 2024

Exciting news for Elsa, who has won my heart with her voracious appetite — Nino schmoozes with the editor, Enrico. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2024

Plus, one of the most voracious algae-eaters, the long-spined black sea urchin, began dying in the Caribbean in the 1980s, likely from a waterborne pathogen. —Benji Jones, Vox, 8 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin vorac-, vorax, from vorare to devour; akin to Old English ācweorran to guzzle, Latin gurges whirlpool, Greek bibrōskein to devour

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

voracious

adjective

vo·​ra·​cious vȯ-ˈrā-shəs 

və-

1

: having a huge appetite : ravenous

voracious fish

2

: very eager

a voracious reader

voraciously adverb

voracity

-ˈras-ət-ē

noun