ravenous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈrævənəs/ UK /ˈrævənəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
extremely hungry; voracious

After the long hike they were ravenous and devoured everything in sight.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely hungry; voracious voracious starvingfamishedinsatiable gluttonous hungry

Opposites

sated satiated full

Word family

Forms ravenously

Derived forms ravenouslyravenousness

Related forms ravenravinravine rapine

Etymology

From Old French ravineus ('ravenous, violent'), from raviner ('to seize, rush'), from ravine ('plunder, rush'), from Latin rapina ('plunder'), from rapere ('to seize').

ravineus Old French rapina Latin rapere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# ravenous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈrævənəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrævənəs/

## Meanings
1. extremely hungry; voracious

## Examples
- After the long hike they were ravenous and devoured everything in sight.

## Synonyms
- voracious
- starving
- famished
- insatiable
- gluttonous
- hungry

## Antonyms
- sated
- satiated
- full

## Derived Forms
- ravenously
- ravenousness

## Related Forms
- raven
- ravin
- ravine
- rapine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ravineus
- Root: rapina
- Root: rapere

## Etymology
From Old French ravineus ('ravenous, violent'), from raviner ('to seize, rush'), from ravine ('plunder, rush'), from Latin rapina ('plunder'), from rapere ('to seize').

## AI Etymology
Ravenous comes from Old French ravineus ('ravenous, violent'), from raviner ('to seize, rush'), from ravine ('plunder, rush'), from Latin rapina ('plunder'), from rapere ('to seize'). The historical chain includes Old French ravineus, Latin rapina, and Latin rapere. Older glosses in the chain include "ravenous, violent", "to seize, rush", "plunder, rush", and "plunder", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, ravenous is best read as borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "extremely hungry; voracious". English derivatives include ravenously and ravenousness; related forms include raven, ravin, ravine, and rapine. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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