Av`a*ri"cious (&?;), a. [Cf. F. avaricieux.] Actuated by avarice; greedy of gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property.

Syn. -- Greedy; stingy; rapacious; griping; sordid; close. -- Avaricious, Covetous, Parsimonious, Penurious, Miserly, Niggardly. The avaricious eagerly grasp after it at the expense of others, though not of necessity with a design to save, since a man may be covetous and yet a spendthrift. The penurious, parsimonious, and miserly save money by disgraceful self- denial, and the niggardly by meanness in their dealing with others. We speak of persons as covetous in getting, avaricious in retaining, parsimonious in expending, penurious or miserly in modes of living, niggardly in dispensing.

-- Av`a*ri"cious*ly, adv. -- Av`a*ri"cious*ness, n.

• Actuated by avarice; greedy of gain; immoderately desirous of accumulating property.
       quotations:
       *"In a word, he was called a hard, avaricious, rapacious man, whose chief business was to enrich himself..." — Robert Montgomery Bird (1806-1854)