greedy

A2 Topic:Food & Drink
US /ˈɡɹiːdi/
adj Freq #5662

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Wanting much more money, food, or power than you need.

    He was so greedy that he kept all the money for himself.

  2. 2
    adj

    Wanting to eat or drink more than is reasonable.

    Don't be greedy with the cookies; leave some for your sister.

  3. 3
    adj

    Very eager for something, often too eager.

    The children were greedy for praise from their teacher.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · wanting much more money,... avariciouscovetousgrasping
2 adj · wanting to eat or drink... gluttonous
3 adj · very eager for something,... esurient
Word family
Forms greediergreediest
Derived forms greedgreedilygreedinessgreedygutsovergreedyungreedy

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 *gʰer-. 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”). Sanskrit गृद्धि (gṛddhi, “greed”) is a false cognate…

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Topics

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