gorger

Meaning

1. 1nouncountableinformal

   Someone who stuffs themselves with food, eating far more than is needed and usually at great speed.

   Grammar: Takes a plural: two gorgers at the buffet; often has a describing word in front.

   Patterns

   • a gorger of something
   • a compulsive gorger

   My brother is a terrible gorger at holiday dinners, and he is always groaning on the sofa by dessert.

   The waiter eyed the gorgers at table six, who had already emptied the bread basket twice.

   Don't let the puppy become a gorger; feed it measured portions instead of leaving the bowl full.

Word forms

Common combinations

a notorious gorger

Uncle Raj is a notorious gorger whenever sweets are on the table.

a shameless gorger

She called herself a shameless gorger after finishing the whole cake.

a binge gorger

The article described a binge gorger who ate in secret late at night.

gorger at the buffet

Every gorger at the buffet went back for thirds.

a greedy gorger

The greedy gorger left nothing on the platter for the others.

Synonyms and how they differ

glutton

Glutton is the far more common word and sounds more judgmental, while gorger stresses the act of stuffing oneself in one sitting.

gobbler

Gobbler focuses on the fast, noisy way someone eats rather than on the sheer quantity.

binge eater

Binge eater is a neutral, often clinical term, whereas gorger is playful or mildly critical.

pig

Pig is an insulting, informal word for a greedy eater, and it is ruder than the lighter gorger.

Opposites

Word family

gorge verb

to eat a very large amount greedily, as in gorge on chocolate

gorge noun

a narrow, steep-sided valley (a different sense of the same spelling)

gorging noun

the act of eating greedily

gorged adjective

filled to the point of being stuffed

Commonly confused: gorger or gorgeous?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “gorger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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