Dictionary
Thesaurus
Medical
Scrabble®
Spanish Central
Browse DictionaryBrowse Thesaurus
Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android
Games
Word of the Day
Video
Blog: Words at Play
My Faves
Dictionary

greed

noun \ˈgrēd\

: a selfish desire to have more of something (especially money)

Full Definition of GREED

:  a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed
See greed defined for English-language learners
See greed defined for kids
ADVERTISEMENT

Origin of GREED

back-formation from greedy
First Known Use: 1609

Related to GREED

Synonyms
acquisitiveness, avarice, avariciousness, avidity, avidness, covetousness, cupidity, graspingness, greediness, mercenariness, rapaciousness, rapacity

Rhymes with GREED

bead, Bede, bleed, brede, breed, cede, creed, deed, feed, Gide, gleed, heed, keyed, knead, kneed, lead, mead, Mead, Mede, meed, need, plead, read, rede, reed, screed, seed, Snead, speed, steed, swede, treed, tweed, weed
GREED Defined for Kids

greed

noun \ˈgrēd\

Definition of GREED for Kids

:  selfish desire for more than is needed

Learn More About GREED

Browse

2 ENTRIES FOUND:
  1. greed
  2. gree
Next Word in the Dictionary: greedyPrevious Word in the Dictionary: gree All Words Near: greed
ADVERTISEMENT
10 Charming Words for Nasty People
Put-downs with flair
Learn More
When "Literally" isn't, well, literal
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.
Watch Now
Know what this is?
Test your vocab with our fun, fast game
Go Play
Fear of cats?
Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears
Learn More
Join Us
Merriam-Webster
on Facebook
Merriam-Webster
on Twitter
Bookstore: Digital and Print
Merriam-Webster references for Mobile, Kindle, print, and more.
See All
Other Merriam-Webster Dictionaries