bloodsucking

American  

[bluhd-suhk-ing] / ˈblʌdˌsʌk ɪŋ /

adjective

1. being or relating to an animal or mythical being that feeds on blood.

   Bloodsucking insects are common in this part of the world.

   In the film, bloodsucking aliens descend on a small town.

2. being or relating to a person or organization who preys on, exploits, or takes advantage of others.

   He denounced his rival politicians as bloodsucking fraudsters living large on their constituents' money.

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Etymology

Origin of bloodsucking

First recorded in 1545–55; blood ( def. ) + suck ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

I asked whether Dafoe thought a movie about a bloodsucking, diseased creature and the horror he unleashes on a 19th Century German town was the perfect antidote to a day of family festivities.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2024

Ticks are small, eight-legged bloodsucking parasites — arachnids, not insects — that feed on animals and sometimes people.

From Seattle Times • May 17, 2024

Their skin is thick with tight fuzzed hair, which makes it less amenable to bloodsucking insects like mosquitoes.

From National Geographic • Jan. 24, 2024

Scientists worry these wetlands are incubating disease-transmitting mosquitoes and other bloodsucking insects, populations of which could explode next spring, Yuryshynets says.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 3, 2024

They glided down onto us like tiny, bloodsucking men in parachutes.

From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor