appetite

noun

ap·​pe·​tite ˈa-pə-ˌtīt 

1

: any of the instinctive desires necessary to keep up organic life

especially : the desire to eat

He has a hearty appetite.

2

a

: an inherent craving

an insatiable appetite for work

b

: taste, preference

… the cultural appetites of the time …

—J. D. Hart

appetitive

ˈa-pə-ˌtī-tiv 

adjective

Synonyms

• belly
• emptiness
• famishment
• hunger
• munchies
• stomach

Examples of appetite in a Sentence

He has a healthy appetite.

Some common symptoms are tiredness, nausea, and loss of appetite.

I had no appetite and couldn't sleep.

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet the little guy has come up big for the bulls this year, retail investors showing a significantly higher risk appetite in recent weeks than professional fund managers. —Michael Santoli, CNBC, 1 Feb. 2025

In the South Bay, investors still have an appetite for supermarket properties, said David Taxin, partner with Meachan Oppenheimer, a commercial real estate firm. —George Avalos, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025

Summary Metastatic breast cancer and the treatments used to control it can significantly reduce appetite. —Corey Whelan, Verywell Health, 30 Jan. 2025

These breeds include the Labrador retriever, which has an insatiable appetite and spends its day begging for extra snacks, the beagle, the dachshund, the basset hound, and the golden retriever, among others. —Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English appetit, appetite "inherent drive or urge (in physiology), desire for food or drink, longing," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French appetit, apetite (also continental Old French apetit), borrowed from Latin appetītus "natural or instinctive desire," from appetī-, variant stem of appetere "to try to reach, have a natural desire for, seek to obtain, strive after" (from ap- ap- + petere "to direct one's course to, seek to obtain") + -tu-, -tus, suffix of action nouns — more at feather entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing appetite

• hearty appetite
• lose one's appetite
• ravenous appetite
• whet one's appetite

Kids Definition

appetite

noun

ap·​pe·​tite ˈap-ə-ˌtīt 

1

: a natural desire especially for food

2

: taste entry 2 sense 4

an appetite for adventure

Medical Definition

appetite

noun

ap·​pe·​tite ˈap-ə-ˌtīt 

: any of the instinctive desires necessary to keep up organic life

especially : the desire to eat

appetitive

-ˌtīt-iv 

adjective