Ravenous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈrævÉ™nÉ™s/

Origin

Borrowing from fro ravineus.

Full definition of ravenous

Adjective

1. Very hungry.
• 1922, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest Chapter 5, The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. There is something humiliating about it.
2. Eager for prey or gratification.
• 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 3, ch. IX, Working AristocracySupply-and-demand? One begins to be weary of such work. Leave all to egoism, to ravenous greed of money, of pleasure, of applause: — it is the Gospel of Despair!

Synonyms

• starving colloquial, figuratively