Covetous
[ˈkʌvətəs] or ['kʌvətəs]
Definition
(adj.) showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another's advantages; 'he was never covetous before he met her'; 'jealous of his success and covetous of his possessions'; 'envious of their art collection' .
Inputed by Giles--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) Very desirous; eager to obtain; -- used in a good sense.
(v. t.) Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess (esp. money); avaricious; -- in a bad sense.
Checker: Monroe
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Greedy, eager, very desirous (usually in a bad sense, though sometimes in a good sense), AVARICIOUS, parsimonious, penurious, sordid, mean, mercenary, miserly, niggardly, stingy.
Checked by Gwen
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Acquisitive, avaricious, greedy, grasping, rapacious
ANT:Unselfish, liberal, self-sacrificing, profuse, bountiful, charitable
Typed by Harley
Examples
- I am covetous, and love good bargains. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- They were covetous, but they were afraid of the Carthaginian sea-power. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The same may be said of the passionate element:--the desires of the ambitious soul, as well as of the covetous, have an inferior satisfaction. Plato. The Republic.
- Ill-treating the boys, you covetous, avaricious, in-sa-ti-a-ble old fence? Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- But I would not wish to be deemed covetous, and I would rather leave it to you, Mr Boffin. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Further, the very faculty which is the instrument of judgment is not possessed by the covetous or ambitious man, but only by the philosopher? Plato. The Republic.
- I never _was_ covetous, Jane, she replied; but I have six children and have buried three, and I didn't marry into money. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He is vain, Isaac, and he is covetous; at least he needs money to supply his profusion. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Typed by Harley