A.Word.A.Day --pleonexia

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Aug 29, 2008

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Why use a simple word?

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argillaceous
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pleonexia

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

pleonexia

PRONUNCIATION:

(pli-uh-NEK-see-uh)

MEANING:

noun: Excessive or insatiable covetousness.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek pleonektein (to be greedy), from pleion (more) + ekhein (have).

USAGE:

"Don McClanen thinks a condition called pleonexia has overtaken the U.S. 'Pleonexia is an insatiable need for more of what I already have, and it has penetrated our culture to the point where people are angry at the poor,' he states."
Jaye Scholl; Don McClanen Offers the Wealthy a Different Kind of Freedom; Barron's (New York); Sep 18, 2000.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Alas, after a certain age every man is responsible for his face. -Albert Camus, writer and philosopher (1913-1960)

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