What does gormandizing mean?
Gormandizing means eating greedily, voraciously, and often with conspicuous pleasure. It is the present participle and gerund of gormandize, a verb whose tone is more literary and old-fashioned than plain hungry or eating greedily. The word carries a faintly disapproving or comic edge: it suggests someone taking more than an ordinary share or treating food as an indulgence. A writer might use it for a banquet scene, a character’s binge, or the general habit of excessive eating, while everyday speech would more often use gorging, feasting, or wolfing. Its interest lies partly in its history: it preserves an older vocabulary of appetite, pleasure, and excess. Although gormandizing can sound humorous or exaggerated, it is also precise enough to describe a manner of eating rather than merely an appetite. The gerund form also allows the activity to be treated as a habit or subject, as in a criticism of his constant gormandizing.
verbTo eat greedily or voraciously, especially with conspicuous enjoyment; to feast excessively.
- To eat greedily or voraciously, especially at a feast or with conspicuous enjoyment.
"They spent the evening gormandizing on roast pheasant and an alarming number of pastries."
"They spent the evening gormandizing on roast pheasant and an alarming number of pastries."
"The novel treats his midnight gormandizing as both comfort and self-indulgence."
Gormandizing turns ordinary hunger into excess—and gives gluttony a deliciously grand name.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gormandizing come from?
The word gormandizing is the present participle of gormandize. It was formed from gormand, an English borrowing through French meaning a glutton or greedy eater, together with the verbal suffix -ize. The related French gourmand and English gormand belong to the same etymological family, reflecting the older vocabulary of greedy eating.
Related word forms
How gormandizing is actually used
Literary, old-fashioned, and usually humorous or disapproving. The -ize spelling is standard in American English, while British English more commonly uses gormandising.
Easily confused with gormandizing
Gormandizing describes the act of eating greedily, whereas a gormand is a person who eats greedily.