Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Covetousness \Cov"et*ous*ness\, n.
   1. Strong desire. [R.]

            When workmen strive to do better than well, They do
            confound their skill in covetousness. --Shak.

   2. A strong or inordinate desire of obtaining and possessing
      some supposed good; excessive desire for riches or money;
      -- in a bad sense.

            Covetousness, by a greed of getting more, deprivess
            itself of the true end of getting.    --Sprat.

   Syn: Avarice; cupidity; eagerness.

Source : WordNet®

covetousness
     n 1: an envious eagerness to possess something
     2: extreme greed for material wealth [syn: {avarice}, {avariciousness},
         {cupidity}]
     3: reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth
        (personified as one of the deadly sins) [syn: {avarice}, {greed},
         {rapacity}, {avaritia}]