rapacious

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Perhaps from rapacity + -ous, in any case ultimately from Latin rapax (grasping, greedy).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

rapacious (comparative more rapacious, superlative most rapacious)

Positive
rapacious

Comparative
more rapacious

Superlative
most rapacious

  1. Voracious; avaricious.
  2. Given to taking by force or plundering.
    • 1910, Niccolò Machiavelli (translated by Ninian Hill Thomson), The Prince, Chapter XIX,
      A Prince [...] sooner becomes hated by being rapacious and by interfering with the property and with the women of his subjects, than in any other way.
  3. Said of an animal, usually a bird, that subsists off of live prey.
    • 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, Chapter XIII,
      Even the rapacious birds appeared to comprehend the nature of the ceremony, for [...] they once more began to make their airy circuits above the place [...]

[edit] Usage notes

  • The use of this term for animals other than birds is dated.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations