Greed is a desire to obtain more money or material possessions or bodily satisfaction than one is considered to need. A more religious term for greed is avarice, which is listed as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.Greedy individuals are often believed to be harmful to society as their motives often appear to disregard the welfare of others: if one person is to increase in wealth, somebody else must be decreasing in wealth (assuming, of course, that a market economy is a zero sum game). However, greed has become more acceptable (and the word less frequent) in Western culture, where the desire to acquire wealth is an important part of capitalism.
Gluttony is a form of greed relating specifically to food and drink. Although eating disorders are widespread, the term "gluttony" is seldom used outside religious discussion.
Greed in the Buddhist sense is a form of attachment, a deluded view that exaggerates the positive aspects of an object.
Greed is also the name of a character in the anime, Full Metal Alchemist.
See also
Emotion
Core issues in ethics
