Definition: covetous

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

covetous
     adj 1: showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another's
            advantages; "he was never covetous before he met her";
            "jealous of his success and covetous of his
            possessions"; "envious of their art collection"; "he
            was green with envy" [syn: envious, jealous, green]
     2: immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth; "they are
        avaricious and will do anything for money"; "casting
        covetous eyes on his neighbor's fields"; "a grasping old
        miser"; "grasping commercialism"; "greedy for money and
        power"; "grew richer and greedier"; "prehensile employers
        stingy with raises for their employees" [syn: avaricious,
         grabby, grasping, greedy, prehensile]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Covetous \Cov"et*ous\ (k?v"?t-?s), a. [OF. coveitos, F.
   convoiteux. See Covet, v. t.]
   1. Very desirous; eager to obtain; -- used in a good sense.
      [Archaic]

            Covetous of wisdom and fair virtue.   --Shak.

            Covetous death bereaved us all, To aggrandize one
            funeral.                              --Emerson.

   2. Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and
      possess (esp. money); avaricious; -- in a bad sense.

            The covetous person lives as if the world were
            madealtogether for him, and not he for the world.
                                                  --South.

   Syn: Avaricious; parsimonious; penurious; misrely; niggardly.
        See Avaricious.