greed

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greed

 (grēd)
n.
An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth: "Many ... attach to competition the stigma of selfish greed" (Henry Fawcett).

[Back-formation from greedy.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

greed

(ɡriːd)
n
1. excessive consumption of or desire for food; gluttony
2. excessive desire, as for wealth or power
[C17: back formation from greedy]
ˈgreedless adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

greed

(grid)

n.
excessive or rapacious desire, esp. for wealth or possessions; avarice; covetousness.
[1600–10; back formation from greedy]
greed′less, adj.
greed′some, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Greed

 

See Also: EATING AND DRINKING, ENVY

  1. (My) avarice cooled like lust in the chill grave —Ralph Waldo Emerson
  2. Avarice is like a graveyard; it takes all that it can get and gives nothing back —Josh Billings
  3. Avaricious … like a pig which seeks its food in the mud, without caring where it comes from —Jean B. M. Vianney
  4. The avaricious man is like the barren sandy ground of the desert which sucks in all the rain and dew with greediness, but yields no fruitful herbs or plants for the benefit of others —Zeno
  5. Covetous persons are like sponges which greedily drink in water, but return very little until they are squeezed —G. S. Bowles
  6. Greedy as a colt first loosed to pasture in the spring —Ben Ames Williams
  7. Greedy as a vulture —Tobias Smollett
  8. He [Donald Trump] has an appetite [for property] like a Rocky Mountain vulture —Alan Greenberg, Wall Street Journal, April 1, 1987
  9. Kings, like hyenas, will always fall upon dead carcasses, although their bellies are full, and although they are conscious that in the end they will tear one another to pieces over them —Walter Savage Landor
  10. (Love surfeits not) lust like a glutton dies —William Shakespeare
  11. Rapacious as a crocodile —Anon
  12. Rapacious as a warlord —Sharon Sheehe Stark
  13. Sucked him dry like a raw egg —Bertold Brecht
  14. They’re [the doctors] milking you like a cow —Molière
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.greed - excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deservesgreed - excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
desire - an inclination to want things; "a man of many desires"
avariciousness, cupidity, avarice, covetousness - extreme greed for material wealth
possessiveness - excessive desire to possess or dominate
acquisitiveness - strong desire to acquire and possess
2.greed - reprehensible acquisitivenessgreed - reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)
deadly sin, mortal sin - an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace; "theologians list seven mortal sins"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

greed

greediness
noun
1. gluttony, voracity, insatiableness, ravenousness He ate too much out of sheer greed.
2. avarice, longing, desire, hunger, craving, eagerness, selfishness, acquisitiveness, rapacity, cupidity, covetousness, insatiableness an insatiable greed for power
avarice generosity, altruism, benevolence, self-restraint, unselfishness, munificence, largesse or largess
Quotations
"There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed" [Frank Buchman Remaking the World]
Proverbs
"The more you get, the more you want"
"The pitcher will go to the well once too often"
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

greed

noun
Excessive desire for more than one needs or deserves:
Informal: grabbiness.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
جَشَع
chamtivostlačnostnenasytnost
grådighed
græîgi
탐욕
mantkārībarijība
lakomnostpožrešnost
açgözlülük

greed

[griːd] Navaricia f, codicia f; (for food) → gula f, glotonería f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

greed

[ˈgriːd] n
(for money, power)avidité f
greed for sth (= desire) → avidité de qch
(for food)gourmandise f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

greed

nGier f (→ for nach +dat); (for material wealth also) → Habsucht f, → Habgier f; (= gluttony)Gefräßigkeit f; greed for money/powerGeld-/Machtgier f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

greed

[griːd] n greed (for) (for money, power) → avidità (di), desiderio smodato (di); (for food) (also greediness) → golosità (per), ingordigia (di)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

greed

(griːd) noun
a (too) great desire for food, money etc. Eating five cakes is just sheer greed.
ˈgreedy adjective
ˈgreedily adverb
ˈgreediness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
"If I do not conceal myself, he may be reminded to write something disagreeable about my lack of a crest or my appetite for scrap- iron; and although he is inexpressibly brilliant when he devotes himself to censure of folly and greed, his dulness is matchless when he transcends the limits of legitimate comment."
The small grey eyes blinked, the lips moved, with greed; greed was the ruling passion; and though there was some good nature, some genuine kindliness, a true human touch, in the old toper, his greed was now so set afire by hope, that all other traits of character lay dormant.
At this news I became almost beside myself with joy and greed, and I flung my arms round the neck of the dervish, exclaiming: "Good dervish, I see plainly that the riches of this world are nothing to you, therefore of what use is the knowledge of this treasure to you?
Upon getting back to the car, he found it burdened with the quartz-blocks that Joe's greed had heaped in it.