Cupidity
noun ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Extreme greed, especially for wealth. countable, uncountable
"A bargain is a social evil; one man's loss, tempting another man's cupidity."
- 2 extreme greed for material wealth wordnet
Example
More examples"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Etymology
From French cupidité, from Latin cupiditās (“strong desire”), from cupidus (“keen, desirous”). Compare Cupid.
More for "cupidity"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.