Covetous \Cov"et*ous\ (k?v"?t-?s), a. [OF. coveitos, F.
convoiteux. See Covet, v. t.]
1. Very desirous; eager to obtain; -- used in a good sense.
[Archaic]
[1913 Webster]
Covetous of wisdom and fair virtue. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Covetous death bereaved us all,
To aggrandize one funeral. --Emerson.
[1913 Webster]
2. Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and
possess (esp. money); avaricious; -- in a bad sense.
[1913 Webster]
The covetous person lives as if the world were
madealtogether for him, and not he for the world.
--South.
Syn: Avaricious; parsimonious; penurious; misrely; niggardly.
See Avaricious.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
covetous
adj 1: 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" [syn:
envious, jealous]
2: immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth; "they are
avaricious and will do anything for money"; "casting
covetous eyes on his neighbor's fields"; "a grasping old
miser"; "grasping commercialism"; "greedy for money and
power"; "grew richer and greedier"; "prehensile employers
stingy with raises for their employees" [syn: avaricious,
grabby, grasping, greedy, prehensile]
WordNet (r) 2.0
31 Moby Thesaurus words for "covetous":
acquisitive, assembly, avid, band, bevy, bunch, cluster, covey,
crew, desirous, eager, envious, esurient, gluttonous, grabby,
grasping, greedy, grudging, hoggish, itchy, jealous, keen,
lickerish, party, piggish, prehensile, rapacious, ravenous,
selfish, swinish, voracious
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
avaricious, envious, grabby, grasping, greedy, jealous, prehensile
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