ravenous

[rav-uh-nuh s] /ˈræv ə nəs/

adjective

extremely hungry; famished; voracious:

feeling ravenous after a hard day's work.

extremely rapacious:

a ravenous jungle beast.

intensely eager for gratification or satisfaction.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English < Old French ravineus, equivalent to ravin(er) to raven² + -eus -ous

Related forms

ravenously, adverb

ravenousness, noun

Can be confused

ravenous, ravaging, ravishing (see synonym study at the current entry)

Synonyms

1. greedy, starved, devouring. Ravenous, ravening, voracious suggest a greediness for food and usually intense hunger. Ravenous implies extreme hunger, or a famished condition: ravenous wild beasts. Ravening adds the idea of fierceness and savagery, especially as shown in a violent manner of acquiring food: ravening wolves. Voracious implies craving or eating a great deal of food: a voracious child; a voracious appetite. It may also be used figuratively: a voracious reader. 2. predatory.

Antonyms

1. sated.

Examples from the web for ravenous

And surprising for a show directly tied to a franchise with a ravenous fan base.
The agency describes itself as serving customers--other departments--and those customers are ravenous.
Dressed in their new shells, the lobsters are ravenous, and now millions of them meet the minimum carapace length for capture.
Some people appear to be hardwired to be particularly ravenous.
Meanwhile, still ravenous for more and yet more work, her activities had branched out into new directions.
Then they simultaneously realized they were ravenous, and out came the snacks.
ravenous rats reproduce less, and ravenous mice not at all.
ravenous, goose-size chicks so jam the landscape that it resembles a poultry farm.
It was an especially ravenous beast if the allegations are true.
Thanks to cable's ravenous maw for content, more diverse and complex shows are entering the rerun canon.

British Dictionary definitions for ravenous

ravenous

/ˈrævənəs/

adjective

famished; starving

rapacious; voracious

Derived Forms

ravenously, adverb
ravenousness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French ravineux, from Latin rapīna plunder, from rapere to seize

Word Origin and History for ravenous

adj.

late 14c., "obsessed with plundering, extremely greedy," from Old French ravinos, of people, "rapacious, violent," of water, "swift-flowing," from raviner "to seize," from ravine "violent rush, robbery" (see ravine). Meaning "voracious, very hungry" is from early 15c. Related: Ravenously; ravenousness.