greedy
/ˈɡɹiːdi/ adjective
Forms greedier greediest
- adjective Having greed; consumed by selfish desires.
- adjective Prone to overeat.
- adjective (regular expressions) Tending to match as much text as possible. “This regular expression performs a greedy match.”
- adjective (computer science, of an algorithm) That tries to find the global optimum by finding the local optimum at each stage.
- adjective (archaic) Greedily sought or pursued.
Synonyms
gluttonous acquisitive avaricious cormorant covetous edacious esurient grasping miserable piggish miserly rapacious selfish sordid sharp-set voracious grabby prehensile avid devouring
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English gredy, from Anglian Old English grēdiġ (“greedy, hungry, eager”) (cognate West Saxon form grǣdiġ), from Proto-Germanic *grēdagaz (“hungry”), from Proto-Germanic *grēdaz, *grēduz, *grēdô (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer-. Equivalent to greed + -y.
Cognate with Old Saxon grādag (“greedy”), Dutch graag (“gladly, willingly”), Old High German grātag (“greedy”), Danish grådig (“greedy”), Norwegian Bokmål grådig (“greedy”) (from Old Norse gráðigr (“greedy”), gráði (“greed, hunger”)), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (grēdags, “hungry”). Sanskrit गृद्धि (gṛddhi, “greed”) is a false cognate.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having a keen appetite for food or drink; ravenous; voracious; very hungry; --followed by of; as, a lion that is greedy of his prey.
- adjective Having a keen desire for anything; vehemently desirous; eager to obtain; avaricious; as, greedy of gain.
Etymology [OE. gredi, AS. grdig, grdig; akin to D. gretig, OS. grdag, OHG. grtag, Dan. graadig, OSw. gradig, grdig, Icel. graugr, Goth. grdags greedy, grdn to be hungry; cf. Skr. grdh to be greedy. Cf. Greed.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “greedy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details