What does esuriency mean?
Esuriency is a formal noun meaning ravenous hunger, greed, or voracious appetite. It can describe an intense physical need for food, as in a reference to hungry children, but it more often suggests a figurative appetite that cannot easily be satisfied: a person may display esuriency for knowledge, attention, power, or material success. The word has a literary and somewhat archaic tone and is unlikely to appear in ordinary conversation, where “greed,” “voracity,” or “insatiable appetite” would usually be preferred. Its association with both hunger and acquisitiveness gives it a more dramatic quality than the neutral word “hunger” and a more specific focus than the broader term “desire.” Esuriency is worth knowing because it captures an appetite that feels urgent, excessive, and difficult to control, while also hinting at the moral judgment commonly attached to greed.
nounThe quality or condition of being ravenously hungry or greedily voracious; an insatiable appetite.
- The condition of being ravenously hungry or greedily voracious.
- By extension, an eager or insatiable desire for a person, thing, or activity.
"Her voracious appetite for learning displayed an esuriency that impressed her tutors."
"Her esuriency for language led the young poet to devour dictionaries with equal enthusiasm."
"The corporation's relentless esuriency for market share alarmed even its most aggressive competitors."
The plural is grammatically regular but rarely encountered because the word itself is uncommon.
"The critic's many esuriencies found their most vivid expression in his appetite for controversy."
From the Latin for “to be hungry,” esuriency names an appetite so intense that hunger becomes greed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does esuriency come from?
Esuriency comes through Latin esuriens, meaning “hungry” or “greedy,” a form of the present participle of esurire, “to be hungry.” Latin esurire is related to edere, “to eat,” from which English also derives words such as edible and edibility. The closely related English adjective esurient shares the same Latin origin and conveys a ravenous or greedy quality.
How esuriency is actually used
Esuriency is formal and literary rather than everyday. It can describe literal hunger, but it is especially common in figurative contexts involving greed, ambition, or an insatiable desire.
Easily confused with esuriency
Esuriency means ravenous hunger or greed, whereas insuriency means a lack or inadequacy of something.