Meaning & use
voraciously
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that shows a huge appetite, eating a great deal and very quickly.
Grammar: Modifies a verb, most often eat or devour: the puppies ate voraciously.
Patterns
- eat voraciously
- feed voraciously
After the long hike, the boys ate voraciously.
The caterpillars fed voraciously on the leaves.
She devoured the pasta voraciously and asked for more.
adverbnot comparablefigurative
With great, almost endless eagerness for something such as books, news or knowledge.
Grammar: Often follows read, learn or consume and suggests approval of the person's curiosity.
Patterns
- read voraciously
- learn voraciously
As a child he read voraciously, finishing a book every two days.
The students absorbed the new ideas voraciously.
She voraciously collected stamps from every country.
Common combinations
- read voraciously
- My sister reads voraciously and always has a novel with her.
- eat voraciously
- The dog ate voraciously after the long walk.
- consume voraciously
- Young fans consumed the series voraciously.
- learn voraciously
- The apprentice learned voraciously from every job.
- feed voraciously
- The larvae feed voraciously for two weeks.
Synonyms and how they differ
- greedily
- Greedily is critical of wanting more than one's share, while voraciously stresses only the size of the appetite.
- ravenously
- Ravenously is nearly the same for hunger but is rarely used for books or knowledge.
- eagerly
- Eagerly is milder and means enthusiastically, without the idea of an enormous, unstoppable appetite.
- hungrily
- Hungrily fits actual hunger and has no strong link to knowledge or reading.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: voraciously or vociferously?
voraciously vs vociferously
Vociferously means in a loud, forceful way, as when complaining. It looks similar but has nothing to do with appetite.
Practice
The twins had skipped lunch, so they ate ___ when they got home.
Choose one answer.
Voraciously means eating with a huge appetite. Vociferously means loudly, and reluctantly and sparingly suggest the opposite of hunger.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “voraciously”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.