What does rapacious mean?

Definitions for rapacious
rəˈpeɪ ʃəsra·pa·cious

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word rapacious.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. predatory, rapacious, raptorial, ravening, vulturine, vulturousadjective

    living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey

    "a predatory bird"; "the rapacious wolf"; "raptorial birds"; "ravening wolves"; "a vulturine taste for offal"

  2. rapacious, ravening, voraciousadjective

    excessively greedy and grasping

    "a rapacious divorcee on the prowl"; "ravening creditors"; "paying taxes to voracious governments"

  3. edacious, esurient, rapacious, ravening, ravenous, voracious, wolfishadjective

    devouring or craving food in great quantities

    "edacious vultures"; "a rapacious appetite"; "ravenous as wolves"; "voracious sharks"

Wiktionary

  1. rapaciousadjective

    Voracious; avaricious.

  2. rapaciousadjective

    Given to taking by force or plundering.

  3. rapaciousadjective

    Subsisting off live prey.

  4. Etymology: Perhaps from rapacity + -ous, in any case ultimately from rapax.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. RAPACIOUSadjective

    Given to plunder; seizing by violence.

    Etymology: rapace, Fr. rapax, Lat.

    Well may thy Lord, appeas’d,
    Redeem thee quite from death’s rapacious claim. John Milton.

    Shall this prize,
    Soon heighten’d by the diamond’s circling rays,
    On that rapacious hand for ever blaze? Alexander Pope.

ChatGPT

  1. rapacious

    Rapacious generally means aggressively greedily or grasping. It can refer to someone who is excessively acquisitive, especially in seeking wealth or possessions. It also can mean predatory or ravenous, excessively eager to consume or possess.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Rapaciousadjective

    given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by violence; seizing by force

  2. Rapaciousadjective

    accustomed to seize food; subsisting on prey, or animals seized by violence; as, a tiger is a rapacious animal; a rapacious bird

  3. Rapaciousadjective

    avaricious; grasping; extortionate; also, greedy; ravenous; voracious; as, rapacious usurers; a rapacious appetite

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Rapacious

    ra-pā′shus, adj. seizing by violence: given to plunder: ravenous: greedy of gain.—n. Rapā′ces, the beasts and birds of prey.—adv. Rapā′ciously.—ns. Rapā′ciousness, Rapac′ity, the quality of being rapacious: ravenousness: extortion. [L. rapax, rapacisrapĕre, raptum, to seize and carry off.]

Entomology

  1. Rapacious

    predatory; capturing and eating prey.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of rapacious in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of rapacious in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of rapacious in a Sentence

  1. Niccolo Machiavelli:

    War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel.

  2. Clark Ballew:

    We felt like paid sick time off was an important omissionand not an especially rapacious ask, because of the 60 vote threshold in the Senate, we also know who likely cast a token vote in our favor yesterday because they knew they were insolated from its passage. There was buffer room there for certain politicians who have never supportedour cause before to get a ‘freebie’ there, but railroaders are not dumb. We see that kind of deception everyday from our bosses on the railroad; we don't fall for that.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for rapacious

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"rapacious." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/rapacious>.

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