consuming

adjective

con·​sum·​ing kən-ˈsü-miŋ How to pronounce consuming (audio)
: deeply felt : ardent
a consuming interest
also : engrossing

Examples of consuming in a Sentence

didn't find the plot of the novel particularly consuming
Recent Examples on the Web By mid-August, that fear was no less consuming. Heidi Levine, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2022 The hero is Alice, wife to Jack, who finds a job in the all-consuming but rather mysterious Victory Project. James Medd, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2022 For Stone, who now lives in South Carolina, one of the most consuming challenges was the anxiety of setting a camera trap and then walking away, sometimes for days at a time, with no control over what might happen next. Steven Bedard, Discover Magazine, 26 Nov. 2019 In the depths of the first movement, immediately before Tchaikovsky’s most consuming cry of desolation, the bassoons, basses and timpani hold a low F sharp, for just a beat and a half. David Allen, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2022 Ratajkowski frames the development of her political consciousness as a process born of self-consciousness, a cancerous and consuming view of the self that the writer argues was pushed on her by patriarchal capitalist society. Jordan Taliha McDonald, Vulture, 9 Nov. 2021 Franzen’s most consuming interest is the existential distress that so often molders within a disintegrating household. Becca Rothfeld, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2021 On top of this, if there is an unraveling in Afghanistan, controlling the fallout will become a consuming issue for the U.S. military. Rich Lowry, National Review, 9 July 2021 Doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff have courageously taken on enormous risk during the pandemic, the most consuming health crisis in more than 100 years, but there is no specific death count for them. Phil McCausland, NBC News, 23 Dec. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'consuming.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1905, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of consuming was in 1905

Dictionary Entries Near consuming

Cite this Entry

“Consuming.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consuming. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

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