rapacious
Americanadjective
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given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
-
inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate.
a rapacious disposition.
- Antonyms:
- generous
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(of animals) subsisting by the capture of living prey; predacious.
adjective
-
practising pillage or rapine
-
greedy or grasping
-
(of animals, esp birds) subsisting by catching living prey
Related Words
See avaricious.
Other Word Forms
- rapaciously adverb
- rapaciousness noun
- rapacity noun
- unrapacious adjective
- unrapaciously adverb
Etymology
Origin of rapacious
First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin rapāci- (stem of rapāx “greedy,” akin to rapere “to seize”; rape 1 ) + -ous
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.
She softens the character’s steely edges, turning a proud and almost rapacious woman into a mere doting mom.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026
"The Moment" satirises the consequences of her hit 2024 album "brat", as rapacious record company executives and a film director played by Alexander Skarsgard seek to jump on the juggernaut.
From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026
When their rapacious cousin Charles appears, hoping to find buried treasure in the house and romancing the “pink and white and golden” Constance, Merricat takes drastic action.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
“It wouldn’t work. The United States has a rapacious appetite for pushing kids. But I can at least make sure a child is given their sweet time in kindergarten,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2025
Considering now, in contrast, the characteristics of Commodus, Severus, Antoninus Caracalla, and Maximinus, you will find them extremely cruel and extremely rapacious.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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.
