avaricious

• avaritious (obsolete)
• avaricius (obsolete)

From Middle English avaricious, from Old French avaricieux, from avarice, from Latin avaritia (“greed”), from avarus (“greedy”), of avere (“crave, long for”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌævəˈɹɪʃəs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

avaricious (comparative more avaricious, superlative most avaricious)

1. Actuated by avarice; extremely greedy for wealth or material gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property.
   • 1835, Robert Montgomery Bird, The Hawks of Hawk-Hollow:

     In a word, he was called a hard, avaricious, rapacious man, whose chief business was to enrich himself...

• See Thesaurus:greedy

• avarice

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “avaricious”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.