insatiable
English
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English insaciable, from Middle French insatiable, from Old French insaciable, from Late Latin insatiabilis. by surface analysis, in- + satiable.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪnˈseɪʃ(j)əbəl/, /ɪnˈseɪʃi.əbəl/
Audio (UK) (file)
Adjective
insatiable (comparative more insatiable, superlative most insatiable)
- Not satiable; incapable of being satisfied or appeased; very greedy
- 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. 4, Abbot Hugo”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, OCLC 191225086, book II (The Ancient Monk):
- Hugo, in a fine frenzy, threatens to depose the Sacristan, to do this and do that; but, in the mean while, how to quiet your insatiable Jew? Hugo, for this couple of hundreds, grants the Jew his bond for four hundred payable at the end of four years. (...) Neither yet is this insatiable Jew satisfied or settled with: he had papers against us of 'small debts fourteen years old;' his modest claim amounts finally to 'Twelve hundred pounds besides interest'
- 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], OCLC 25083293:
- Such an appointment would realize my fondest dreams. But no, at any sacrifice, I must set bounds to my insatiable ambition!
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Collocations
with nouns
- insatiable appetite
- insatiable desire
- insatiable curiosity
- insatiable thirst
- insatiable hunger
- insatiable need
- insatiable greed
Translations
not satiable; incapable of being satisfied or appeased
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Noun
insatiable (plural insatiables)
- One who or that which cannot be satiated.
Further reading
- insatiable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- insatiable at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- banalities
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French insatiable, from Old French insaciable, from Latin insatiābilis. by surface analysis, in- + satiable.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.sa.sjabl/
Adjective
insatiable (plural insatiables)
- insatiable
Further reading
- “insatiable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French insaciable, from Latin insatiābilis. by surface analysis, in- + satiable.
Adjective
insatiable m or f (plural insatiables)
- insatiable
Descendants
- French: insatiable
- → Middle English: insaciable
- English: insatiable