# I Can't Think Of a Word **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837 "2007-12-13T12:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/1 "2007-12-13T12:14:30Z")
That means always looking for (in a partner) good looks, wealth and nothing more. I keep thinking superficial, shallow, avarisious but I know there is a better one… Who can help? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/2 "2007-12-13T12:39:06Z")
Gold digger. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/3 "2007-12-13T12:53:06Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo] Gold digger. [/QUOTE] A gold-digger doesn’t need good looks, either. Actually, for a gold-digger, ancient and wizened with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel is preferable. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/4 "2007-12-13T12:55:40Z")
Epicurean? Or, oh dang…now I have your mental block…what’s the word for people who thrive on pleasure and care about nothing else? It is a short word that does not end with -ist, like egotist. Hmm… if it comes to me, I’ll report back. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/5 "2007-12-13T12:57:12Z")
Ah-ha! A hedon! Or, hedonist? Someone who believes pleasure is of most importance. If the latter is correct, then I was wrong…it DID end with -ist after all. Oh, what about a narcissist? Did I spell that correctly? ---
**Author:** ![JustThinkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@JustThinkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustThinkin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/6 "2007-12-13T13:00:37Z")
Hedonist isn’t quite right. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/7 "2007-12-13T13:01:06Z")
Thanks guys- hedonist wasn’t the word. And I had thought of gold digger but it didn’t suit. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/8 "2007-12-13T13:03:10Z")
[Decadent](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/decadent)? [Aestheticism](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Aestheticism)? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/9 "2007-12-13T13:09:49Z")
short-sighted soon-divorced ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/10 "2007-12-13T13:26:36Z")
Ubiquitous? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/11 "2007-12-13T13:37:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] Ubiquitous? [/QUOTE] [No](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Ubiquitous). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/12 "2007-12-13T14:08:29Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] [No](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Ubiquitous). [/QUOTE] I think **Bill** was making a little quip. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/13 "2007-12-13T14:21:54Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I think **Bill** was making a little quip. 😉 [/QUOTE] Oh my, would you look at my new hairstyle caused by the rushing breeze?! :o ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/14 "2007-12-13T14:38:56Z")
I just had to report this. I typed “gold digger” into Merriam-Websters thesaurus to see if I could find a suitable word for the OP, and here’s what I got: ================================== # No entries found that match gold digger. Here is a list of similar words. One entry found. schoolteacher The hell? 😕 :eek: 😃 (Cite: [http://www.m-w.com/thesaurus/gold%20digger](http://www.m-w.com/thesaurus/gold%20digger)) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/15 "2007-12-13T15:14:49Z")
Would “mercenary” work, in the OP’s context? Kind of hard to find a word that covers both greed and “lookism.” “Superficial” and “shallow” aren’t specific. They could just as easily describe my interest in the outcome of American Idol. “Avaricious” could be that callow backstabber at the office, but have noting to do with superficial tastes in the pulchritude of one’s companion. Can I hijack the thread title to get a response to something that’s been bugging me? From either a 100-level biology or astrophysics class in my dim past, I recall a word that was pronoucned as **“neep-toad,”** but no amount of Googling with any spelling yeilds results. If, in fact this word is not a vauge memory but rather my neurosis-induced neologism, I propose that we now call greedy lookists “neep toads.” ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/16 "2007-12-13T15:33:26Z")
[QUOTE=Cicero] That means always looking for (in a partner) good looks, wealth and nothing more. I keep thinking superficial, shallow, avarisious but I know there is a better one… Who can help? [/QUOTE] Practical? On the neep-toad front: nematode? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/17 "2007-12-13T16:40:40Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] From either a 100-level biology or astrophysics class in my dim past, I recall a word that was pronoucned as **“neep-toad,”** but no amount of Googling with any spelling yeilds results. [/QUOTE] If biology then “nematode.” If astrophysics then “neap tide.” ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/18 "2007-12-13T16:46:14Z")
Materialistic would cover the money part. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/19 "2007-12-13T17:08:39Z")
Mercenary is a good one. Re “neeptode”, would “neap tide” come up in astrophysics? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837/20 "2007-12-13T17:22:01Z")
[QUOTE=Cicero] That means always looking for (in a partner) good looks, wealth and nothing more. I keep thinking superficial, shallow, avarisious but I know there is a better one… Who can help? [/QUOTE] Hmmm…is “Bitch” gender neutral enough? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-think-of-a-word/429837.md?page=2)