Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Cupidity |
CupidityNoun1. Extreme greed for material wealth. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "cupidity" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
19th Century Satire | A driver of sharp deals. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: CupiditySynonyms: avarice (n), avariciousness (n), covetousness (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Desire | Appe appetition, appetence, appetency; sharp appetite, keenness, hunger, stomach, twist; thirst, thirstiness; drouth, mouthwatering; itch, itching; prurience, cacoethes, cupidity, lust, concupiscence. |
Greed | Noun: covetousness, ravenousness; Adjective: venality, avidity, cupidity; acquisitiveness (acquisition); desire. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Cupidity |
| English words defined with "cupidity": covetous ♦ envious ♦ green ♦ jealous. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cupidity": Commonwealth ♦ Lord ♦ Property. (references) |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | LORD, n. In American society, an English tourist above the state of a costermonger, as, lord 'Aberdasher, Lord Hartisan and so forth. The traveling Briton of lesser degree is addressed as "Sir," as, Sir 'Arry Donkiboi, or 'Amstead 'Eath. The word "Lord" is sometimes used, also, as a title of the Supreme Being; but this is thought to be rather flattery than true reverence. Miss Sallie Ann Splurge, of her own accord, Wedded a wandering English lord -- Wedded and took him to dwell with her "paw," A parent who throve by the practice of Draw. Lord Cadde I don't hesitate to declare Unworthy the father-in-legal care Of that elderly sport, notwithstanding the truth That Cadde had renounced all the follies of youth; For, sad to relate, he'd arrived at the stage Of existence that's marked by the vices of age. Among them, cupidity caused him to urge Repeated demands on the pocket of Splurge, Till, wrecked in his fortune, that gentleman saw Inadequate aid in the practice of Draw, And took, as a means of augmenting his pelf, To the business of being a lord himself. His neat-fitting garments he wilfully shed And sacked himself strangely in checks instead; Denuded his chin, but retained at each ear A whisker that looked like a blasted career. He painted his neck an incarnadine hue Each morning and varnished it all that he knew. The moony monocular set in his eye Appeared to be scanning the Sweet Bye-and-Bye. His head was enroofed with a billycock hat, And his low-necked shoes were aduncous and flat. In speech he eschewed his American ways, Denying his nose to the use of his A's And dulling their edge till the delicate sense Of a babe at their temper could take no offence. His H's -- 'twas most inexpressibly sweet, The patter they made as they fell at his feet! Re-outfitted thus, Mr. Splurge without fear Began as Lord Splurge his recouping career. Alas, the Divinity shaping his end Entertained other views and decided to send His lordship in horror, despair and dismay From the land of the nobleman's natural prey. For, smit with his Old World ways, Lady Cadde Fell -- suffering Caesar! -- in love with her dad! G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Grover Cleveland | 1885-1889; 1893-1897 | In the meantime, as the nation's wards, they should be promptly defended against the cupidity of designing men and shielded from every influence or temptation that retards their advancement. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Cupidity" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Cupidity" is used about 11 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 11 | 106,044 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
cupidity | 4 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "cupidity"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | lakmi (avidity, covetousness, eagerness, envy, gluttony, greed, greediness), etje (anxiety, avidity, desire, drought, eagerness, hankering, hunger, thirst, voracity). (various references) | |
Arabic | طمع (avidity, greed, itching palm, longing, lust for, pretentiousness, rapacity, slaver over), جشع (an itching palm, avarice, avaricious, avidity, grasping, greed, greedy, mercenary, predatory, rapacious, rapacity, ravening). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | алчност (avarice, avidity, eagerness, mammon, miserliness, rapacity). (various references) | |
Czech | chamtivost (greed). (various references) | |
Farsi | حرص وازبرای بدست اوردن مال . (various references) | |
Finnish | voitonhimo (greed for gain). (various references) | |
French | cupidité, avidité. (various references) | |
German | Begierde (appetency, avidity, avidness, covetousness, desire, longing, lust, lustfulness, yearning). (various references) | |
Greek | απληστία (avidity, covetousness, greed, greediness, ravenousness, voraciousness, voracity). (various references) | |
Hungarian | vágy (appetite, desire, eagerness, longing, stomach, thirst, wish), sóvárgás (appetence, appetency, covetousness, craving, greed, hankering, longing, yearning), kívánság (demand, desire, postulate, request, will, wish). (various references) | |
Indonesian | ketamakan (greed, rapacity). (various references) | |
Italian | cupidigia (avarice, greed). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | upiditycay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | cupidez. (various references) | |
Romanian | cupiditate, lãcomie (covetousness, gluttony, gourmandize, greed, hoggishness, hunger, rapacity), arghirofilie (love of money, usuriousness). (various references) | |
Russian | алчность (avarice, avidity, greed). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | pohlepnost (rapacity). (various references) | |
Spanish | codicia (avarice, greed, greediness, lust), avaricia (an itching palm, avarice, miserliness, parsimony). (various references) | |
Swedish | snikenhet (avarice, greed). (various references) | |
Turkish | hırs (ambition, anger, avidity, desire, fire, forwardness, glow, greed, greediness, mammon, mettle, passion, rage, rapaciousness, rapacity, voracity), açgözlülük (avarice, avidity, covetousness, gluttony, greed, greediness, insatiability, rapaciousness, rapacity, voracity). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | корисливість (avarice, money-grubbing, self interest), жадібність (avarice, avidity, bulimy, covetousness, edacity, greediness, rapacity), жадоба (appetite, avarice, avidity, craving, desire, greed, yearn, yearning), пристрасне бажання (concupiscence, oestrus). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tính tham lam (avarice, avariciousness, graspingness), máu tham. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | cupiditas, -atis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Cupidity" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Coliditz, cupicity, cupididty. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "cupidity" (pronounced 'Cu*pid"i*ty'): Ability, Abnormality, Abnormity, Aboriginality, Absorbability, Absorptivity, Abstrusity, Absurdity, Accendibility, Accentuality, Acceptability, Accessibility, Accidentality, Acclivity, Accomplicity, Accountability, Acerbity, Acetosity, Achromaticity, Acidity, Acquirability, Acrity, Activity, Actuality, Actuosity, Acuity, Addibility, Admirability, Admiralty, Admissibility, Adorability, Aduncity, Adverbiality, Adversity, Advisability, Aeriality, Affability, Affectibility, Agaty, Agility, Agreeability, Alacrity, Alamodality, Aldermanity, Algidity, Alibility, Alienability, Alkalinity, Allotropicity, Alterability. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-d-i-i-p-t-u-y" | |
-3 letters: cupid, dicty, pudic, typic. | |
-4 letters: city, dipt, duci, duct, duit, duty, pity, pyic, tidy, tipi. | |
-5 letters: cud, cup, cut, dip, dit, dui, dup, icy, pic, pit, piu, pud, put, tic, tip, tui, tup, yid, yip, yup. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-d-i-i-p-t-u-y" | |
+1 letter: duplicity. | |
+2 letters: impudicity. | |
+4 letters: productivity. | |
+5 letters: duplicitously, quadruplicity. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Quotations: Non-fiction | 5. Quotations: Speeches 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Translations: Ancient 10. Derivations 11. Rhymes 12. Anagrams | 13. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
