voraciousness

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /vəˈreɪʃəsnəs/ UK /vəˈreɪʃəsnəs/ See IPA manual

Homophones

veraciousness /vəˈreɪʃəsnəs/

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being insatiably greedy or eager, especially for food or knowledge

His voraciousness for reading emptied the library shelves in a season.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being... greed rapacityravenousnessgluttony avidityinsatiabilityhunger

Opposites

moderation satiety temperance abstemiousness

Word family

Related forms voracious voracity devour

Etymology

From voracious (from Latin vorax 'greedy, ravenous', from vorare 'to devour') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

vorax Latin vorare Latin *gʷerh₃- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# voraciousness

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

## Meanings
1. the quality of being insatiably greedy or eager, especially for food or knowledge

## Examples
- His voraciousness for reading emptied the library shelves in a season.

## Synonyms
- greed
- rapacity
- ravenousness
- gluttony
- avidity
- insatiability
- hunger

## Antonyms
- moderation
- satiety
- temperance
- abstemiousness

## Related Forms
- voracious
- voracity
- devour

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: vorax
- Root: vorare
- Root: *gʷerh₃-

## Etymology
From voracious (from Latin vorax 'greedy, ravenous', from vorare 'to devour') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

## AI Etymology
Voraciousness comes from voracious (from Latin vorax 'greedy, ravenous', from vorare 'to devour') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness. The historical chain includes Latin vorax, Latin vorare, and Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃-. The quoted older senses, "greedy, ravenous" and "to devour", supply the semantic anchors for voraciousness. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word voraciousness carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the quality of being insatiably greedy or eager, especially for food or knowledge". Related English forms include voracious, voracity, and devour. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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