greedy

From Middle English gredy, from Anglian Old English grēdiġ (“greedy, hungry, eager”) (cognate West Saxon form grǣdiġ), from Proto-Germanic *grēdagaz (“hungry”), from Proto-Germanic *grēdaz, *grēduz, *grēdô (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrēdʰ- (“to be hungry, long for”), equivalent to greed +‎ -y. Cognate with Old Saxon grādag (“greedy”), Dutch graag (“gladly, willingly”), Old High German grātag (“greedy”), Danish grådig (“greedy”), Norwegian Bokmål grådig (“greedy”) (from Old Norse gráðigr (“greedy”), gráði (“greed, hunger”)), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (grēdags, “hungry”). Non-Germanic cognates include Sanskrit गृद्धि (gṛddhi, “greed”), Albanian ngordh (“to crave for, starve, die”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹiːdi/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːdi

greedy (comparative greedier, superlative greediest)

1. Having greed; consumed by selfish desires.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311:

     For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     “ […] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”

2. Prone to overeat.
3. (regular expressions) Tending to match as much text as possible.

   Antonyms: lazy, nongreedy, reluctant

   This regular expression performs a greedy match.

4. (computer science, of an algorithm) That tries to find the global optimum by finding the local optimum at each stage.

   Antonym: nongreedy

5. (archaic) Greedily sought or pursued.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:

     Suppoſe they be in number infinit,
     Yet being voyd of Martiall diſcipline,
     All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles: […]
     Their careleſſe ſwords ſhal lanch their fellows throats
     And make vs triumph in their ouerthrow.

• (having greed): Thesaurus:greedy
• (prone to overeat): gluttonous

• Sranan Tongo: gridi

• “greedy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “greedy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• greyed