acquisitive
貪欲な
解説 Definition
渇望的な、特に物質や金銭を求める傾向の強い。貪欲で、所有欲が強い性質を持つ人や態度を表す。
Describing someone who strongly wants to get and own more things, especially money or property. It is often used for a person, attitude, or society that places a high value on gaining wealth. The word can sound slightly critical.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
acquire（手に入れる）を知っていれば、その“手に入れることに前のめりな性質”が acquisitive。単に ambitious（成功志向）というより、金銭・物・所有へ欲が向くので greedy にかなり近い語です。an acquisitive person / society のように、人や社会の“所有欲の強さ”を述べる場面で出やすいです。音が似る inquisitive は「知りたがり」。欲しがる対象が“財産”なら acquisitive、“知識”なら inquisitive と切り分けると残ります。
Start from acquire. If someone is acquisitive, they always want to acquire more, especially money or possessions. To avoid confusion, compare it with inquisitive: inquisitive wants knowledge, acquisitive wants ownership.
例文
His acquisitive nature led him to collect rare artifacts.
彼の貪欲な性質は、稀な遺物の収集へと彼を導きました。
The acquisitive corporation continued to buy smaller companies.
買収志向の強い企業は、中小企業を次々と買収し続けました。
She had an acquisitive eye for beautiful paintings and sculptures.
彼女は美しい絵画と彫刻に対する強い収集欲を持っていました。
acquisitive の類義語・関連語
紛らわしい語
acquisitive の語源・成り立ち Etymology
acquisitive はラテン語 acquirere 由来で、ad-「…へ」+ quaerere「求める」+ -ive「…する傾向の」が骨格。acquire や inquire と同じ -quir- に「求める」があり、必要以上に手に入れたがる性質へ意味が伸びた。
Acquisitive comes from Latin acquirere, the source of acquire. It is built from ad- meaning "to" and quaerere meaning "to seek," with the suffix -ive meaning "tending to." The core idea was actively seeking to get things, and it later developed into the sense of being eager to gain or collect more than necessary. Related words include acquire and inquire.
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