What does voracious mean?
Voracious describes an eager, intense appetite or desire, especially for food, reading, knowledge, or experience. Its literal sense refers to consuming large amounts quickly and enthusiastically, as in “a voracious appetite.” In extended use, it characterizes people who are eager to absorb information or pursue activities with remarkable intensity: a voracious reader, for example, is someone who reads widely and rapidly. The word can suggest admirable curiosity and enthusiasm, but it can also imply greed, excess, or an inability to be satisfied. It is used in both formal and informal English in Britain and the United States, though its slightly literary tone makes it less common than words such as hungry or greedy in everyday speech.
adjectiveConsuming food or another substance eagerly and in large quantities. By extension, having an intense, almost insatiable appetite or desire for something.
- Eating or consuming eagerly and in large quantities.
- Having an intense, almost insatiable appetite or desire for something, especially knowledge, reading, or experience.
"After a long journey, the travelers had a voracious appetite."
"The children approached the picnic table with voracious enthusiasm."
"She is a voracious reader who finishes several novels each week."
Voracious comes from the Latin vorax, meaning “devouring” or “greedy,” so the word has always carried the image of eating with enthusiastic excess.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does voracious come from?
Voracious entered English in the early 17th century from the Latin voracius, derived from vorax, meaning “devouring” or “greedy.” Its deeper root is the Latin verb vorare, “to swallow greedily,” which also underlies English words such as devour. The word therefore developed from a physical image of eating greedily into a broader description of eager and intense consumption.
Related word forms
How voracious is actually used
The word is somewhat literary and often conveys enthusiasm or abundance rather than simply hunger. It can be approving when describing an enthusiastic reader or appetite for knowledge, but may suggest excessive greed or indiscriminate consumption in other contexts.
Easily confused with voracious
Both describe an intense appetite, but ravenous is chiefly used for extreme hunger, whereas voracious can also describe an eager appetite for ideas, information, or experiences.