acquisitiveness

== English == === Etymology === From acquisitive + -ness. === Pronunciation === === Noun === acquisitiveness (usually uncountable, plural acquisitivenesses) The quality of being acquisitive; propensity to acquire property; desire of possession. 1952, Patricia Highsmith (as Claire Morgan), The Price of Salt, New York: Norton, 2004, Chapter Eleven, p. 113,[3] I think he picked me out like a rug for his living room, and he made a bad mistake. I doubt if he’s capable of loving anyone, really. What he has is a kind of acquisitiveness, which isn’t much separate from his ambition. (phrenology) The faculty to which the phrenologists attribute the desire of acquiring and possessing. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “acquisitiveness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.