voracious means wanting or devouring great quantities of food. It carries an Arena rating of 1612, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, voracious ranks #216 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #417 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,430 of 17,118 for Most Ponderous Words, #3,445 of 17,114 for Most Satisfying to Say.
voracious is pronounced /vɔːˈɹeɪ.ʃəs/.
Why “voracious” is a great word
Having an insatiable appetite for food, or by extension, an overwhelming eagerness for an activity or pursuit. From Latin vorāx, vorāc- ("greedy, devouring"), from vorō ("to devour"), first attested in English in the 1630s. Unlike "gluttonous," which implies a wasteful, morally suspect overindulgence, or "rapacious," which seizes with predatory greed for material gain, "voracious" describes the pure, amoral intensity of appetite itself. It is the fire that swallows a forest without malice, the pages turned until dawn bleaches the lamp, the single-minded consumption that leaves no scrap on the plate. This is a hunger so profound it becomes the very engine of being—a state in which the self becomes merely a mouth, a pair of eyes, a consciousness stretched thin by its own impossible capacity to take in.
Etymology
From Latin vorāx, from vorō (“to devour”).
adj
- Wanting or devouring great quantities of food.e.g.“He is voracious by suppertime.”
- Having a great appetite for anything; eager.e.g.“a voracious reader”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.