voracious

voracious

English

WOTD – 21 January 2007

Etymology

From Latin vorāx, from vorō (“I devour”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔːˈɹeɪ.ʃəs/, /vəˈɹeɪ.ʃəs/

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃəs
• Homophone: veracious

Adjective

voracious (comparative more voracious, superlative most voracious)

1. Wanting or devouring great quantities of food.
   • 1719 April 25​, [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, OCLC 838630407:

     I never had so much as . . . one wish to God to direct me whither I should go, or to keep me from the danger which apparently surrounded me, as well from voracious creatures as cruel savages.

   • 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], chapter 45, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], OCLC 558204586:

     The old man was up, betimes, next morning, and waited impatiently for the appearance of his new associate, who after a delay that seemed interminable, at length presented himself, and commenced a voracious assault on the breakfast.

   • 1910, Jack London, "The Human Drift":

     Retreating before stronger breeds, hungry and voracious, the Eskimo has drifted to the inhospitable polar regions.

2. Having a great appetite for anything.
   • 1922, Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, ch. 7:

     If he carried chiefly his appetite, a zeal for tiled bathrooms, a conviction that the Pullman car is the acme of human comfort, and a belief that it is proper to tip waiters, taxicab drivers, and barbers, but under no circumstances station agents and ushers, then his Odyssey will be replete with good meals and bad meals, bathing adventures, compartment-train escapades, and voracious demands for money.

   • 2005, Nathan Thornburgh, "The Invasion of the Chinese Cyberspies," Time, 29 Aug.:

     Methodical and voracious, these hackers wanted all the files they could find.

   a voracious reader

Synonyms

• (devouring great quantities of food): See Thesaurus:voracious
• (having a great appetite for anything): See Thesaurus:greedy

Derived terms

• unvoracious
• voraciously
• voraciousness

 

Related terms

• voracity

Translations

devouring great quantities of food

Arabic: قِرْشَبّ‎ (qiršabb), أَكُول‎ (ʾakūl) Bulgarian: ненаситен (bg) (nenasiten) Chinese: Mandarin: 貪吃 (zh), 贪吃 (zh) (tānchī), 狼吞虎嚥的, 狼吞虎咽的 (lángtūnhǔyàn de) Czech: žravý, hltavý Danish: umættelig Dutch: vraatzuchtig (nl) Esperanto: manĝegi, vori (eo) Estonian: ablas (et), ahne (et) Finnish: ahne (fi), ahnas (fi) French: vorace (fr) Georgian: ღორმუცელა (ɣormucela), გაუმაძღარი (gaumaʒɣari), ხარბი (xarbi) German: gefräßig (de), unersättlich (de), gierig (de) Greek: αδηφάγος (el) m or f (adifágos), αχόρταγος (el) m (achórtagos) Ancient: βρωτικός (brōtikós) Hungarian: falánk (hu), telhetetlen (hu) Indonesian: voracious Irish: cíocrach, alpach, airceach, gionach Japanese: 貪欲な (ja) (どんよくな, don'yoku na), 大食の (ja) (たいしょくの, taishoku no) Latin: vorāx, lurcinābundus Norwegian: glupsk (no) Ottoman Turkish: قورساقسز‎ (kursaksız) Persian: پرخور‎ (fa) (por-xor) Polish: żarłoczny (pl), zachłanny (pl) Portuguese: voraz (pt) Russian: прожо́рливый (ru) (prožórlivyj), ненасы́тный (ru) (nenasýtnyj), жа́дный (ru) (žádnyj) (до еды) Sanskrit: भोजन (sa) (bhojana) Scottish Gaelic: gionach, craosach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: прождр̀љив Roman: proždr̀ljiv (sh) Spanish: voraz (es), insaciable (es) Swedish: glupsk (sv), omättlig (sv) Westrobothnian: glupen

having a great appetite for anything

Bulgarian: лаком (bg) (lakom) Chinese: Mandarin: 貪心 (zh), 贪心 (zh) (tānxīn), 貪婪 (zh), 贪婪 (zh) (tānlán) Czech: nenasytný, neukojitelný, dychtivý Danish: umanerlig Estonian: ablas (et), ahne (et) Finnish: innokas (fi), ahkera (fi) French: vorace (fr) Georgian: ღორმუცელა (ɣormucela), გაუმაძღარი (gaumaʒɣari), ხარბი (xarbi) German: unersättlich (de), gierig (de) Greek: αδηφάγος (el) m or f (adifágos), μανιώδης (el) m or f (maniódis) Ancient: βρωτικός (brōtikós) Hungarian: telhetetlen (hu) Irish: cíocrach Japanese: 貪欲な (ja) (どんよくな, don'yoku na) Latin: vorax Persian: پرولع‎ (fa) (por-vala') Polish: zachłanny (pl) Portuguese: voraz (pt) Russian: ненасы́тный (ru) (nenasýtnyj), жа́дный (ru) (žádnyj) (до еды) Scottish Gaelic: gionach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: по̏хле̄пан, алав Roman: pȍhlēpan (sh), alav (sh) Spanish: voraz (es), insaciable (es) Swedish: omättlig (sv)