preta means A hungry ghost (a supernatural being in Buddhist folklore, the spirit of a greedy person whose divine retribution is never to be sated). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why this word is great
PRETA — [Noun] A hungry ghost; a tormented spirit in Buddhist cosmology condemned to insatiable hunger and thirst as karmic retribution for past greed, avarice, or emotional withholding. From Sanskrit प्रेत (preta, "departed spirit, ghost"). Unlike a *bhuta*, a more general and often malevolent elemental ghost, or the neutral, boundless category of *spirit*, a preta is defined precisely by its lack: a being of pure, karmic appetite. It is a throat no wider than a needle's eye, a belly swollen and cavernous, forever chasing mirages of nectar that recede into dust—the punishment is the craving, a perfect metaphysical prison for a life consumed by wanting.
noun
- A hungry ghost (a supernatural being in Buddhist folklore, the spirit of a greedy person whose divine retribution is never to be sated)