voracious
/vɔːˈɹeɪ.ʃəs/adjective
voracious is spelled V-O-R-A-C-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, voracious means “Wanting or devouring great quantities of food” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in voracious?
| Letters | 9: V-O-R-A-C-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,416th 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 voracious?
Voracious appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th 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 voracious?
- /vɔːˈɹeɪ.ʃəs/
- /vəˈɹeɪ.ʃəs/
Voracious has 3 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: En-us-voracious.ogg, En-au-voracious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of voracious
- more voracious comparative
- most voracious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does voracious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Wanting or devouring great quantities of food.
He is voracious by suppertime.
- 2
Having a great appetite for anything; eager.
a voracious reader
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Voracious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense devouring great quantities of food:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vorace |
| German | gefräßig, unersättlich, gierig |
| Portuguese | voraz |
| Spanish | voraz, insaciable |
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 voracious come from?
From Latin vorāx + English -acious. First attested in the 17th century.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).