GREED

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does greed mean? 

• GREED (noun)
  The noun GREED has 2 senses:

1. excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves

2. reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)

  Familiarity information: GREED used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GREED (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("greed" is a kind of...):

desire (an inclination to want things)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "greed"):

avarice; avariciousness; covetousness; cupidity (extreme greed for material wealth)

possessiveness (excessive desire to possess or dominate)

acquisitiveness (strong desire to acquire and possess)

Derivation:

greedy (immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

avarice; avaritia; covetousness; greed; rapacity

Hypernyms ("greed" is a kind of...):

deadly sin; mortal sin (an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace)

Derivation:

greedy (immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth)

 Context examples 

As I think I told you once before, said I, it is you who have been, in your greed and cunning, against all the world.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But the fresh meat was strong in Baseek's nostrils, and greed urged him to take a bite of it.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He stood near the window, his grey silhouette thrown up against the square of dusty glass; and I have never seen such a play of evil passions, of anger, of jealousy, of disappointed greed upon a human face before.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And now, said he, to settle what remains. Will you be wise? will you be guided? will you suffer me to take this glass in my hand and to go forth from your house without further parley? or has the greed of curiosity too much command of you?

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It may be profitable to you to reflect, in future, that there never were greed and cunning in the world yet, that did not do too much, and overreach themselves.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)