WoTD: gourmand

Definition:
1. One who eats to excess
2. A lover of good food.


Usage note: A gourmet is one who has discriminating taste in food and wine. A gourmand is one who enjoys food of fine quality, and also one who enjoys food in great quantities. Glutton signifies one who simply eats to excess, without reference to the quality of the fare consumed.

Kevin ate with the aloof discrimination usually reserved for a gourmet. From appetizer to dessert, the man allowed only the finest foods, the rarest wines, the most delectable morsels to grace his palate. He cared not at all for price, for scarcity, for the toil involved in preparation -- which most often he paid vast sums of money for others to complete -- he cared only for quality and quantity, especially the latter. He wolfed down meals with the ferocity and speed of a Texan at an eating contest. No one could match the gourmand's abilty to consume so much food in such short sittings. If it weren't for his fine taste he would have earned the lesser tag of a common glutton.