Excessive desire, especially for wealth; covetousness or avarice. 贪欲过度的渴望,尤指对财富的贪求;贪婪或贪欲
Avarice drove him into theft. 贪婪驱使他偷窃。
avarice
[ noun ]
reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)
<noun.act>
extreme greed for material wealth
<noun.attribute>
Avarice \Av"a*rice\ ([a^]v"[.a]*r[i^]s), n. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av[=e]re to covet, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. 'a`menai, 'a^sai, to satiate, Skr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.] 1. An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness for wealth; covetousness; cupidity.
To desire money for its own sake, and in order to hoard it up, is avarice. --Beattie.
2. An inordinate desire for some supposed good.
All are taught an avarice of praise. --Goldsmith.
As veterans of budget wars know, revenue "shortfalls" and budget "cuts" don't mean that the numbers go down, just that they fall a little short of the (projected) dreams of avarice.
Suddenly, the potent mixture of avarice and optimism that blasted Japanese stocks into the stratosphere in the 1980s has been supplanted by a pervasive sense of gloom.
Thai avarice has provided Hanoi with a light at the end of the tunnel.
Where you used "the old-fashioned word slut" in discussing sexual sins, you might have used other oldfashioned words to describe the greed, avarice and coveting that mark our material sins.
Personally I would have preferred a bit more show of miserliness and avarice on the grand scale.
An official from People's Bank of China, which has to approve all share issues, also addressed the crowd, criticizing investors for avarice.
This customarily becomes sheer avarice among those who believe they are innocently laying their hands on stolen goods.