voracious
Definitions
Eating very large amounts of food; ravenously hungry
贪吃的，狼吞虎咽的
Extremely eager for something; having an insatiable appetite (for reading, knowledge, etc.)
贪求的，如饥似渴的（指阅读、求知等）
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedvor (from Latin vorāre, devour) + -ous (full of) = 'full of devouring' — describing an appetite that won't stop. The literal sense is about food (a voracious eater), but the more common modern use is figurative: a voracious reader can't stop reading, voracious demand can't be satisfied. The image of bottomless hunger transfers to any craving.
Root vor still carries 9 more wordsWhy It Means This
What makes voracious useful is how easily it leaves the dinner table. The root means 'devour,' so the core image is a hunger that can never be filled. English then lends that image to the mind and the market: a voracious learner devours information, a voracious audience can't get enough content. When you want to say someone or something consumes endlessly and eagerly, voracious is the word.
Common Collocations
- 1.voracious appetite贪得无厌的胃口
- 2.voracious reader如饥似渴的读者
- 3.voracious demand旺盛的需求
- 4.voracious eater贪吃的人
Example Sentences
- 1.
Teenagers often have a voracious appetite and seem to eat constantly.
- 2.
She is a voracious reader who gets through several books a week.
- 3.
The new factory created a voracious demand for raw materials.
Synonym Comparison
- voracious — insatiable, can't get enough; works for food and (often) for reading, knowledge, demand
- ravenous — extremely hungry right now; almost always about literal, immediate hunger
- greedy — wanting more than one's fair share; carries moral disapproval
- insatiable — impossible to satisfy ever; the strongest, most abstract
- gluttonous — overeating to excess; about the vice of gluttony