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Definition 2024


stay_hungry

stay hungry

English

Verb

stay hungry (third-person singular simple present stays hungry, present participle staying hungry, simple past and past participle stayed hungry)

  1. (idiomatic) To maintain a strong motivation to achieve or compete; to avoid complacency.
    • 1979 July 21, "Steeler Veterans Arrive," Youngstown Vindicator, p. 13 (retrieved 8 August 2013):
      They've got three Super Bowl titles under their belts, but the Pittsburgh Steelers talked about staying hungry as the full squad of veterans arrived at training camp Friday.
    • 1991 Jan. 4, Jaime Diaz, "Golf: Light Mood as Golf Season Opens," New York Times (retrieved 8 August 2013):
      Faldo's main challenge will be to stay hungry despite the more than $10 million he has earned in business opportunities.
    • 2008 May 17, Richard Corliss and Mary Corliss, "Cannes Gets Real" (film review of Tyson), Time (retrieved 8 August 2013):
      Tyson was an apt pupil: he obsessively studied old films of boxing legends, learned the spiritual side of the warrior mentality and, he says, "restrained myself from having sex for about five years." . . . But how to stay hungry when you're dining on caviar, sycophancy and willing women?
    • 2013 March 12, Deborah Sweeney, “15 Lessons I Learned From 15 Years In Business,” forbes.com (retrieved 8 August 2013):
      Complacency is the demise of business. Steve Jobs said it best when he said, “stay hungry”.

Usage notes