esurient means very greedy or hungry; ravenous; (figuratively) avid, eager. It carries an Arena rating of 1603, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, esurient ranks #1,805 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,179 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #5,148 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #6,404 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
esurient is pronounced /ɪˈsjʊə.ɹɪ.ənt/.
Why “esurient” is a great word
Exhibiting an intense or ravenous hunger, either literal or figurative. From Latin ēsurient-, ēsuriēns, present participle of ēsurīre ("to be hungry, to hunger for"), a desiderative verb from edō ("to eat"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti ("to eat"); first recorded in English use 1665–75. Unlike "ravenous," which suggests a wild, animalistic gulp, or "avid," which conveys a mere keen enthusiasm, esurient implies an insatiable and all-consuming need, a hunger that is intellectual as much as visceral. It is the scholar's midnight lamp burning over a forgotten text, the miser's cold fingers counting coins in a vault, the quiet ache of ambition that feeds on silence—the recognition that some appetites, once awakened, can never be fully sated.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ēsurient, ēsurientem, from ēsuriēns (“hungering”), present participle of ēsuriō (“to be hungry, to hunger for something”), a desiderative verb from edō (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti (“to eat”)) + -turiō (suffix indicating a desire for an action).
adj
- Very greedy or hungry; ravenous; (figuratively) avid, eager.
noun
- One who is greedy or hungry.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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