greedy

English

Etymology

From Middle English gredy, from Anglian Old English grēdiġ (“greedy, hungry, eager”) (cognate West Saxon form grǣdiġ), from Proto-Germanic *grēdagaz (“hungry”), from Proto-Germanic *grēdaz, *grēduz, *grēdô (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrēdʰ- (“to be hungry, long for”), equivalent to greed +‎ -y. Cognate with Old Saxon grādag (“greedy”), Dutch graag (“gladly, willingly”), Old High German grātag (“greedy”), Danish grådig (“greedy”), Norwegian Bokmål grådig (“greedy”) (from Old Norse gráðigr (“greedy”), gráði (“greed, hunger”)), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (grēdags, “hungry”). Non-Germanic cognates include Sanskrit गृद्धि (gṛddhi, “greed”), Albanian ngordh (“to crave for, starve, die”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹiːdi/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -iːdi

Adjective

greedy (comparative greedier, superlative greediest)

Having greed; consumed by selfish desires.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 14, page 311:
  For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
  “ […] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”
Prone to overeat.
(regular expressions) Tending to match as much text as possible.
Antonyms: lazy, nongreedy, reluctant
This regular expression performs a greedy match.
(computer science, of an algorithm) That tries to find the global optimum by finding the local optimum at each stage.
Antonym: nongreedy
(archaic) Greedily sought or pursued.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
  Suppoſe they be in number infinit,
  Yet being voyd of Martiall diſcipline,
  All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles: […]
  Their careleſſe ſwords ſhal lanch their fellows throats
  And make vs triumph in their ouerthrow.

Synonyms

(having greed): Thesaurus:greedy
(prone to overeat): gluttonous

Derived terms

greed (by back-formation)
greediness
greedyguts
overgreedy

Descendants

Sranan Tongo: gridi

Translations

having greed; consumed by selfish desires

Afrikaans: gulsig
Albanian: lakmitar (sq)
Arabic: طَمَّاع‎ (ṭammāʿ), جشِع‎, بَخِيل‎ (baḵīl)
Egyptian Arabic: بخيل‎ (baḵīl)
Armenian: ագահ (hy) (agah)
Bashkir: ҡомһоҙ (qomhoð), ҡомағай (qomağay), хирес (xires)
Belarusian: хці́вы (xcívy), пра́гны (práhny), хі́жы (xížy)
Bulgarian: а́лчен (bg) (álčen)
Catalan: avariciós (ca), cobdiciós, cobejós, avar (ca), àvid
Chinese:
Cantonese: 貪心, 贪心 (taam¹ sam¹)
Mandarin: 貪婪的／贪婪的 (zh) (tānlán-de), 貪心的／贪心的 (zh) (tānxīn-de)
Czech: chtivý, chamtivý (cs)
Dalmatian: golaus, gulaus
Danish: grådig
Dutch: hebzuchtig (nl)
Esperanto: avida (eo)
Estonian: ahne (et)
Finnish: ahne (fi)
French: avaricieux (fr), cupide (fr), avide (fr)
Galician: cobizoso
Gallurese: inguddòssu, strùziu
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: gierig (de), habgierig (de), habsüchtig (de)
Greek: άπληστος (el) m (áplistos)
Ancient: πλεονέκτης (pleonéktēs), φιλοκερδής (philokerdḗs)
Hebrew: חמדן‎ m (khamdán)
Hindi: कंजूस (hi) (kañjūs)
Hungarian: mohó (hu), kapzsi (hu)
Icelandic: gráðugur
Ido: avida (io)
Irish: cíocrach (for food, etc.), amplach, amplúil, antlásach, alpach
Italian: ingordo (it), avido (it)
Jamaican Creole: craven
Japanese: 貪欲な (ja) (どんよくな, don'yoku-na)
Kabuverdianu: laskadu, langon
Kalmyk: ховдг (hovdg)
Khmer: លោភលន់ (loŭphlôn), លោភ (km) (loop), លោភោ (km) (loophoo)
Korean: 욕심 많다 (yoksim manta), 탐욕스럽다 (tamyokseureopda)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: چاو برسی‎ (çaw birsî)
Latin: avārus, avidus (la), trahax
Lun Bawang: mangaa
Macedonian: алчен (alčen)
Maori: touapo
Nepali: लोभी (ne) (lobhī)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: grådig (no)
Nynorsk: grådig (no), grådug
Occitan: cobejós (oc), avid (oc)
Old English: ġīfre
Persian: حریص‎ (fa) (haris), آزمند‎ (fa) (âzmand), رزد‎ (fa) (razd)
Plautdietsch: bejierich
Polish: chciwy (pl) m, skąpy (pl)
Portuguese: ganancioso (pt), avaro (pt)
Punjabi: ਲਾਲਚੀ (lālcī)
Russian: жа́дный (ru) (žádnyj), а́лчный (ru) (álčnyj), ненасы́тный (ru) (nenasýtnyj), скупо́й (ru) (skupój), ска́редный (ru) (skárednyj)
Sardinian: mandigadore, ispasteradu, isgrasumìdu
Campidanese: abbramiu, asurídu, asuríu
Logudorese: alarpu, esurídu, isurídu, abbramidu
Sassarese: abbramidu, ucciòni
Scottish Gaelic: gionach, sanntach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: похлепан
Roman: pohlepan (sh)
Slovak: chtivý, chamtivý, hrabivý, nenásytný
Slovene: pohlepen (sl)
Spanish: codicioso (es), avaricioso (es), ávido (es), avaro (es), avorazado (es), angurriento (es)
Swedish: girig (sv)
Telugu: పొగరు (te) (pogaru)
Thai: โลภ (th) (lôop)
Tibetan: ཧམ་པ་ཚ་པོ (ham pa tsha po)
Tocharian B: entsesse
Turkish: açgözlü (tr)
Ukrainian: жа́дібний (žádibnyj), жаді́бний (žadíbnyj), жа́дний (žádnyj), жадни́й (žadnýj), жадли́вий (žadlývyj)
Vietnamese: tham (vi), tham lam (vi)
Walloon: tinciveus (wa) m
Welsh: barus (cy), gwancus (cy)
West Frisian: gjirrich
Yiddish: זשעדנע‎ (zhedne)

prone to overeat

Arabic: شرِه‎, نهِم‎
Bashkir: ҡомһоҙ (qomhoð)
Bulgarian: лаком (bg) (lakom)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 為食 (yue), 为食 (wai⁶ sik⁶)
Finnish: ahnas (fi)
French: gourmand (fr) m
German: gefräßig (de)
Hungarian: falánk (hu)
Irish: alpach, gionach
Italian: goloso (it)
Kabuverdianu: laskadu, gulós, guloze
Portuguese: guloso (pt)
Spanish: glotón (es), tragón (es) (colloquial)
Tagalog: matakaw
Walloon: golafe (wa)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Irish: ^{(please verify)} alpartha

Anagrams

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