predatory
Americanadjective
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Zoology. preying upon other organisms for food.
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of, relating to, or characterized by plunder, pillage, or robbery, as in war.
predatory tactics.
- Synonyms:
- rapacious
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engaging in or living by these activities.
predatory bands of brigands.
- Synonyms:
- rapacious
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excessive or exploitative in amount or cost, as out of greed or to take advantage of consumers or patrons.
predatory pricing.
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seeking to exploit, victimize, or prey on others.
More and more, senior citizens find themselves victims of predatory scams that rob them of their savings.
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acting with or possessed by overbearing, greedy, or selfish motives.
He was cornered at the party by a predatory reporter.
adjective
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zoology another word for predacious
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of, involving, or characterized by plundering, robbing, etc
Other Word Forms
- nonpredatorily adverb
- nonpredatorilyness noun
- nonpredatory adjective
- predatorily adverb
- predatoriness noun
- unpredatory adjective
Etymology
Origin of predatory
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin praedātōrius “plundering, marauding”; predator, -tory 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And the predatory striker wasn't shy about showing Hammers fans what they were missing.
From BBC
“The sequence of events, Smith’s prior statements to Plaintiff, and the circumstances of the hotel intrusion all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident.”
From Los Angeles Times
Within as little as three million years after the end-Permian mass extinction, the oceans supported complex food webs filled with predatory reptiles and amphibians.
From Science Daily
“I understand people want to make money, but I feel like this is so predatory.”
From Los Angeles Times
They are a discipline—an instrument that forces the true cost of dependency into corporate planning and counters predatory trade behavior.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
