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.
In such a socially competitive and professionally rapacious city, having a dinner party is intimidating, too much work, and very few people, even with boatloads of cash, end up hosting one.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 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
Parkanyi vets every submission, weeding out couples who appear rapacious for money, or those who demand a specific type of foreigner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025
But the cynicism that has always thrummed underneath his high-concept comedies — the dehumanizing algorithms, the rapacious finance system — is more prominent in this slim, potent novel.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2025
The people loved peace and quiet and, because of this, they were pleased by decent princes, while the soldiers loved a prince with military spirit who was cruel, arrogant, and 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.
