ravening

Ravening can mean about the same thing as ravenous—extremely hungry or famished—but the words often have different shades of meaning. See the next section for an explanation of the differences.

A prime synonym for ravening is voracious, which implies craving or eating a great deal of food, as in a voracious appetite or The kids were voracious after the hike. 

The word starving is often used as a synonym for very hungry or famished, but many people avoid it so as to avoid insensitive comparisons to those experiencing literal starvation.

Ravening can also be used figuratively outside of the context of food. This sense of the word can mean greedy or even predatory in the pursuit of things that are desired, such as money or knowledge.

A strong synonym for this sense is rapacious.

A person who has a ravening appetite—literally or figuratively—could be described as insatiable.

The word ravening is also sometimes used as a noun. Synonyms for this sense include ravenousness and voraciousness. Both of these can be used figuratively outside the context of food. This is how the similar word rapacity is always used.

Ravening and ravenous both suggest intense hunger, but ravening often adds an element of fierceness, like that of wild animals on the hunt, as in ravening wolves. This sense can also be applied to people, in a somewhat figurative way.

Ravening is also used outside of the context of food to suggest greediness or extreme desire—in the same way that voracious is sometimes used. Ravenous can be used in this way, but it’s more often applied in the context of literal hunger.

Ravenous is more commonly used than ravening.

In general, ravening can mean “intensely hungry” or “extremely desirous or greedy.” Opposites of both of those senses include satisfied, sated, and satiated. When literally talking about having had enough food, a very common and straightforward term is full. Words that suggest being more than full include gorged, glutted, and, more informally, stuffed.