Eating or wanting extremely large quantities of food; having an intense, insatiable desire for something.
The teenagers came home after football practice looking exhausted and starving. They attacked the fridge with voracious appetites, devouring everything in sight within minutes. Their mother just laughed and started preparing a second round of sandwiches.
This meaning is about eating or wanting to eat an enormous amount of food. Imagine a puppy that just won’t stop eating — you fill the bowl, it empties it in seconds, and it’s already looking up at you for more. You’d call that puppy a voracious eater. This is voracious in the food sense — an appetite that seems impossible to satisfy. You might say “kids can have voracious appetites after school” or a nature documentary could describe wolves as “voracious feeders.” Or picture coming back from a long hike where you haven’t eaten all day — you sit down at a restaurant and devour three courses without pausing. The word suggests a hunger that goes beyond normal — almost wild in its intensity. ✏️ Voracious is stronger than just “hungry” — it suggests an almost unstoppable, greedy need for food.
Vivid example: The stray cat they rescued turned out to be a voracious eater who finished every bowl in record time. No matter how much food they put down, she always seemed ready for more. The vet said she was perfectly healthy — just making up for lost meals.
This meaning is about wanting or consuming a lot of something — not food, but things like books, knowledge, information, or power. Imagine a child who reads three books a week, always asking for more, always with a book in hand at bedtime, on the bus, even at the dinner table. You’d call her a voracious reader. This is voracious used for any kind of intense, hungry desire. You might say “she has a voracious appetite for learning” or a journalist could describe “the company’s voracious demand for data.” Or think about someone who devours every podcast, article, and documentary on a subject they love — their curiosity is voracious. The word paints a picture of someone who can never get enough. ✏️ The most common pairing is “voracious reader” — it’s a compliment that means someone reads a lot and loves it deeply.
Vivid example: From the moment he discovered history books as a teenager, he became a voracious reader who spent every free hour in the library. His shelves at home overflowed with biographies, memoirs, and essays. His friends joked that he’d read more books than most people would in a lifetime.
Examples from the street:
“She’s a voracious reader — she gets through about three books a week.” → She reads an enormous amount with real enthusiasm and hunger for more
“He has a voracious appetite — he can eat twice as much as anyone else at the table.” → He has an extremely large, almost unstoppable desire for food
“The company has a voracious appetite for data — they collect everything they can.” → The company has an intense, never-satisfied desire to gather as much information as possible
Voracious as having an extremely eager desire for knowledge or activity — VERY COMMON:
– a voracious reader → someone who reads constantly and in large quantities
– a voracious learner → someone who absorbs new knowledge with intense eagerness
– a voracious consumer of (something) → someone who takes in huge amounts of something (media, information, content)
– voracious curiosity → an intense, never-satisfied desire to know and understand things
– a voracious appetite for (knowledge/information/success) → an extremely strong, almost insatiable drive to get more of something
Voracious as having extreme physical hunger:
– a voracious appetite → an extremely large desire for food
– a voracious eater → someone who eats large amounts eagerly and quickly
– voracious hunger → an intense, overwhelming need for food
Example Sentences
1. My daughter is a voracious reader — her bookshelves are overflowing and she’s always asking for more
→ My daughter reads an incredible amount — her shelves are completely full and she constantly wants new books.
2. He has a voracious appetite for knowledge and spends every evening studying something new
→ He has an intense, never-ending desire to learn and dedicates every night to picking up new information.
3. She’s a voracious consumer of podcasts — she listens to at least two a day on her commute
→ She gets through a huge number of audio programmes — she takes in no fewer than two every day while travelling to work.
4. Teenagers can be voracious eaters — my son can go through an entire loaf of bread in one sitting
→ Young people can have an astonishing appetite — my boy can finish a whole loaf during a single meal.
5. The startup has a voracious appetite for investment — they’ve already burned through three rounds of funding
→ The young company has an enormous and seemingly endless need for money — they’ve already used up the capital from three separate rounds.
6. Her voracious curiosity led her to study everything from astrophysics to ancient Greek
→ Her intense and restless desire to understand things drove her to explore subjects ranging from space science to classical languages.
7. After the long hike, we all sat down with voracious appetites and finished every dish on the table
→ Following the lengthy walk, we were all extremely hungry and ate absolutely everything that had been served.
8. He’s a voracious learner who picks up new skills faster than anyone I’ve ever met
→ He absorbs new abilities with intense eagerness and acquires them more quickly than any other person I’ve known.
9. Social media companies are voracious consumers of personal data — they want to know everything about you
→ Online platforms take in enormous quantities of private information — they aim to collect every possible detail about their users.
10. The puppy had a voracious appetite and would eat anything left within reach
→ The young dog was constantly and desperately hungry and would swallow whatever food it could get to.
Learner Examples
1. The most successful language students tend to be voracious readers who expose themselves to English through books, articles, and subtitles every day
→ The learners who make the most progress are usually those who read enormous amounts, surrounding themselves with English through novels, written pieces, and on-screen text daily.
2. A voracious appetite for learning is what separates students who reach fluency from those who get stuck at an intermediate level
→ An intense, never-satisfied desire to absorb new knowledge is what distinguishes learners who achieve natural ability from those whose progress stalls halfway.
✔ Native usage tips
– “Voracious reader” is by far the most common combination — if you only learn one pattern with this word, make it this one. Native speakers use it constantly to describe someone who reads a lot. It’s almost a set phrase at this point
– Almost always used positively or neutrally about intellectual hunger — calling someone a voracious reader or learner is a compliment. It suggests passion and dedication. The negative side only appears when describing greed — “a voracious appetite for power” sounds threatening and selfish
– More written and literary than spoken — you’ll see “voracious” in book reviews, newspaper profiles, and formal writing much more than in casual chat. In everyday conversation, people would more likely say “she reads loads” or “he’s mad about books” rather than “voracious reader”
– Pronunciation catches learners out — it’s vuh-RAY-shus, with the stress on the second syllable. Many learners put the stress on the first syllable or pronounce it like “vor-AH-see-us” with four syllables. It has three syllables only
– The figurative meaning is far more common than the literal one — while voracious technically means “extremely hungry” (for food), native speakers use it about mental or intellectual hunger at least ninety percent of the time. Describing someone’s actual eating as “voracious” sounds quite literary or dramatic
– Related adverb: “voraciously” — “she reads voraciously” is natural but slightly formal. In casual speech, “she reads like crazy” or “she reads non-stop” are more common ways to say the same thing
✔ Similar expressions / words
– Insatiable → means a desire that can never be fully satisfied; very similar to voracious but emphasises the impossibility of satisfaction; “insatiable curiosity” and “voracious curiosity” are nearly identical, but insatiable feels slightly more intense and dramatic
– Avid → means very keen and enthusiastic; lighter and more everyday than voracious; “an avid reader” suggests someone who reads a lot and enjoys it, while “a voracious reader” suggests someone who devours books with almost unstoppable intensity
– Ravenous → almost exclusively used for physical hunger; much more common in everyday speech than voracious; “I’m ravenous” means “I’m extremely hungry” and is casual, while “I have a voracious appetite” sounds formal and literary