COVETOUS • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Covetous

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adjective

Covetous adj.

Very desirous; eager to obtain; used in a good sense. (Archaic) "Covetous of wisdom and fair virtue." "Covetous death bereaved us all, To aggrandize one funeral."

Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess (esp. money); avaricious; in a bad sense. "The covetous person lives as if the world were madealtogether for him, and not he for the world."

Synonyms: Avaricious; parsimonious; penurious; misrely; niggardly. See Avaricious.

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Etymology of 'Covetous'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Covetous" Quotes from Famous Books

... And for iron hath less of airy and watery moisture than other metals: therefore it is hard to resolve and make it again to be nesh in fire. Use of iron is more needful to men in many things than use of gold: though covetous men love more gold than iron. Without iron the commonalty be not sure against enemies, without dread of iron the common right is not governed; with iron innocent men are defended: and fool-hardiness of wicked men ...

— Mediaeval Lore from Bartholomew Anglicus • Robert Steele

... producing a strong magnifying glass, "here's a connoisseur whose revelations you may trust. Examine these facets with its help," and again the Sepoy placed the sapphire within reach of the covetous Raikes, who promptly availed ...

— The Flaw in the Sapphire • Charles M. Snyder

... thee. Thou knowest C—, of the Convention,—he has power, and he is covetous. 'Qu'on me meprise, pourvu que je dine' (Let them despise me, provided that I dine.), said he, when reproached ...

— Zanoni • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... She had all Winton's dandyism, and just so much more as was appropriate to her sex. With her dark hair, wonderfully fluffed and coiled, waving across her forehead, her neck bare for the first time, her eyes really "flying," and a demeanour perfectly cool—as though she knew that light and movement, covetous looks, soft speeches, and admiration were her birthright—she was more beautiful than even Winton had thought her. At her breast she wore some sprigs of yellow jasmine procured by him from town—a flower of whose scent she was very fond, and that he had never seen worn in ballrooms. ...

— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... discouraged from Industry by the Tyranny they are under.] For what indeed should they do with more than Food and Rayment, seeing as their Estates encrease, so do their Taxes also? And altho the People be generally covetous, spending but little, scraping together what they can, yet such is the Government they are under, that they are afraid to be known to have any thing, lest it be taken away from them. Neither have they any encouragement for their industry, having no Vend by Traffic and ...

— An Historical Relation Of The Island Ceylon In The East Indies • Robert Knox

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