ravenous
/ˈɹævənəs/ adjective
- adjective Very hungry.
- adjective Greedy, characterized by strong desires.
Synonyms
starving famished sharp-set starved esurient edacious rapacious ravening voracious wolfish
Etymology
From Middle English ravenous, ravynous, from Old French ravineus. By surface analysis, ravin + -ous. As seen at raven and ravin, the word comes from a root referring to predation, not from the root referring to ravens (corvid birds); but folk etymology notes that the latter hypothesis seems plausible because ravens can often seem ravenous (especially as nestlings).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Devouring with rapacious eagerness; furiously voracious; hungry even to rage; as, a ravenous wolf or vulture.
- adjective Eager for prey or gratification; as, a ravenous appetite or desire.
Etymology [From 2d Raven.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ravenous”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details