ravenous

English

Etymology

From Middle English ravenous, ravynous, from Old French ravineus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹævənəs/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

ravenous (comparative more ravenous, superlative most ravenous)

1. Very hungry.
   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     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. Grasping; characterized by strong desires.
   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 3, ch. IX, Working Aristocracy

     Supply-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!

   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     Mrs. Michael turned out to be a ravenous, fast-fading woman in a slashed skirt and a low blouse over an unappetising chest. While her husband did things in his shed, where he appeared to live, Pym inexpertly mixed the Yorkshire pudding and fought off her embraces...

Synonyms

• starving (colloquial, figuratively)
• See also Thesaurus:voracious

Derived terms

• ravenously
• ravenousness

Translations

very hungry

• Catalan: famèlic
• Czech: vyhladovělý (cs) m
• Dutch: uitgehongerd (nl)
• Finnish: sudennälkäinen
• French: affamé (fr), vorace (fr)
• Galician: esfameado, famento
• German: gefräßig, ausgehungert (de), heißhungrig
• Greek:

  Ancient: πρόσπεινος (próspeinos), ὀξύπεινος f (oxúpeinos)

• Irish: cíocrach, aimirneach
• Italian: famelico (it) m, affamato (it) m

• Latin: vorax
• Maori: warawara, whakapakari, pakaroa
• Polish: zachłanny (pl), żarłoczny (pl)
• Portuguese: faminto (pt) m
• Russian: изголодавшийся (ru) (izgolodavšijsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: gionach, craosach
• Spanish: famélico (es)
• Swedish: svulten (sv)
• Ukrainian: ненаже́рливий (nenažérlyvyj)

eager for prey or gratification

• Finnish: ahne (fi)

• Scottish Gaelic: gionach

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: изгладня́л (bg) (izgladnjál)
• Icelandic: banhungraður m, soltinn m, glorhungraður m

• Spanish: famélico (es)

See also

• voracious