Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective covetous differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of covetous are acquisitive, avaricious, grasping, and greedy. While all these words mean "having or showing a strong desire for especially material possessions," covetous implies inordinate desire often for another's possessions.

covetous of his brother's country estate

Where would acquisitive be a reasonable alternative to covetous?

The meanings of acquisitive and covetous largely overlap; however, acquisitive implies both eagerness to possess and ability to acquire and keep.

an eagerly acquisitive mind

In what contexts can avaricious take the place of covetous?

The words avaricious and covetous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, avaricious implies obsessive acquisitiveness especially of money and strongly suggests stinginess.

an avaricious miser

How is grasping related to other words for covetous?

Grasping adds to covetous and greedy an implication of selfishness and often suggests unfair or ruthless means.

a hard grasping businesswoman who cheated her associates

When is it sensible to use greedy instead of covetous?

The synonyms greedy and covetous are sometimes interchangeable, but greedy stresses lack of restraint and often of discrimination in desire.

greedy for status symbols

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of covetous All regard Cuba with the covetous memories of former lovers—longing mingled with knowledge of the island’s practical side, its transactionalism. Jon Lee Anderson, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021 Photo : Mercedes-Benz AG This is a vehicle that is at once a capacious hauler of humans, a covetous lifestyle accessory, and a wildly competent militaristic transport. Brett Berk, Robb Report, 13 May 2024 As Céline launches a charm offensive — a kind of maternal seduction, even — on the boy, Alice grows ever more anxiously protective: Is her bereft neighbor merely seeking an outlet for her grief, or enacting some kind of covetous revenge? Guy Lodge, Variety, 27 Mar. 2024 In a typical dispatch for The Church Times, about St. Matthew, Mr. Blythe wrote: Not for us covetous desires and inordinate love of riches. Clay Risen, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2023 See All Example Sentences for covetous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for covetous
Adjective
  • Yearning for physical perfection—encouraged by a greedy beauty culture intent on feeding it—is a debilitating waste of energy.
    Valerie Monroe, Allure, 28 Mar. 2025
  • That’s what Elliot (Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Ortega) confront while on a journey to a retreat hosted by Elliot’s greedy crackpot boss (Grant).
    Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • In the episode, a lactation consultant named Clark helps her which leads to a hilarious sequence of a jealous Jim watching someone else touch his wife.
    Erica Marrison, People.com, 24 Mar. 2025
  • The movie takes place in 1957, when Genovese is jealous of Costello’s power and influence and wants to usurp him as the big boss in New York.
    Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • With rising incomes, a booming domestic travel sector and a government eager to improve the country’s tourism infrastructure, India is commanding unprecedented attention from the world’s most prominent hotel brands.
    Ronak D. Desai, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
  • Trump is eager to avoid repeating some of the turnover that characterized his first term.
    Time, Time, 30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Others have used computer vision with some success in aiding material analysis of pigments and texture; more mercenary applications by museums and collectors include its potential to authenticate works of art.
    Sonja Drimmer, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
  • Bennett Conlin, editor: Former Terps legends Len Elmore and Tom McMillen wanted the program to avoid hiring another mercenary coach, instead bringing in a coach with strong Maryland ties.
    Baltimore Sun staff, Baltimore Sun, 1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • This nation state, my home, is built on a quagmire of lies sold to the young as truths; sold to the insecure as truths; sold by the avaricious, the power-hungry, the conceited, the overwhelmingly white and male.
    Christine Winter, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
  • Pearce plays Van Buren as hungry and avaricious even in his kinder moments, a man of immense wealth whose primary desire is to own more and more.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Infinite Reality, which is building a headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was founded in 2019 and has been acquisitive in recent months, buying companies such as the Drone Racing League, Landvault and virtual reality retail brand Obsess.
    Kif Leswing, CNBC, 25 Mar. 2025
  • Fremantle was incredibly acquisitive around three years back but its only big M&A deal in the past year has been Red Planet maker Asacha and Beach House, although these were splashy.
    Max Goldbart, Deadline, 20 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Covetous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/covetous. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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