‘婪心’ literally means 'greedy heart'—a compound noun formed by 婪 (lán), meaning 'greedy' or 'covetous', and 心 (xīn), meaning 'heart' or 'mind'. It is a literary, somewhat classical expression that personifies greed as an inner force or disposition. Unlike the more common adjective 贪婪 (tānlán), 婪心 functions exclusively as a noun and carries a strong moral or critical connotation, often implying insatiable desire—especially for wealth, power, or material gain.

The term appears frequently in moralistic writing, historical narratives, and idiomatic expressions to describe corrupt officials, unscrupulous merchants, or characters driven by unchecked ambition. It evokes imagery of moral decay and is rarely used in casual speech; instead, it appears in formal essays, news commentary, or literary criticism to underscore ethical failure at the psychological level.