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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-722/
- Published: 2026-08-09T18:15:50.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-09T18:15:49.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

avarice (noun) -

: excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or profit : greediness, cupidity

Source : [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avarice?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : A more formal synonym for greed, avarice has a long if uncomplicated history in English. Chaucer in his 14th-century The Parson's Tale compared avarice with covetise, a now obsolete word that means "covetousness" ("Covetise is to covet such things as thou hast not; and avarice is to withhold and keep such things as thou hast, without rightful need"—743), and Shakespeare uses it in Macbeth ("With this there grows / In my most ill-composed affection such / A stanchless avarice that, were I king, / I should cut off the nobles for their lands, / Desire his jewels and this other's house: / And my more-having would be as a sauce / To make me hunger more"—IV.iii.76-82). Avarice has also appeared in various translations of the Bible, usually in verses that describe the attributes of those who do not follow God, and has historically been listed as one of the seven deadly sins. The word comes from Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin avaritia, from avarus avaricious, from avēre to crave.

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