greedy
/ˈɡɹiːdi/adjective
greedy is spelled G-R-E-E-D-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, greedy means “Having greed; consumed by selfish desires” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in greedy?
| Letters | 6: G-R-E-E-D-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.6 times per million words; the 10,358th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is greedy?
Greedy appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce greedy?
- /ˈɡɹiːdi/
Greedy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-greedy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of greedy
- greedier comparative
- greediest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does greedy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having greed; consumed by selfish desires.
- 2
Prone to overeat.
- 3
Tending to match as much text as possible.
This regular expression performs a greedy match.
- 4
That tries to find the global optimum by finding the local optimum at each stage.
- 5
archaicGreedily sought or pursued.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Greedy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | avaricieux, cupide, avide , gourmand |
| German | gierig, habgierig, habsüchtig , gefräßig |
| Portuguese | ganancioso, avaro , guloso |
| Spanish | codicioso, avaricioso, ávido, avaro, avorazado, angurriento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does greedy come from?
From Middle English gredy, from Anglian Old English grēdiġ (“greedy, hungry, eager”) (cognate West Saxon form grǣdiġ), from Proto-Germanic *grēdagaz (“hungry”), from Proto-Germanic *grēdaz, *grēduz, *grēdô (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer-. Equivalent to greed + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).