rapacious

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

rapacious

/ɹəˈpeɪ.ʃəs/ UK, US

Rhymes with -eɪʃəs

Where it comes from

Perhaps from rapacity + -ous, in any case ultimately from Latin rapāx (“grasping, greedy”) + -acious.

adjective more rapacious · most rapacious

also, figuratively Voracious; avaricious. To presume a want of motives for such contests [of power between states] as an argument against their existence, would be to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious.
Similar: acquisitive, avaricious, cormorant, covetous, edacious, esurient, grasping, greedy, miserable, piggish, miserly, rapacious
Given to taking by force or plundering; aggressively greedy. The natives were driven out by rapacious colonists.
of an animal Subsisting off live prey. 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[…]
Similar: predacious, predatory

Translations

Every language

adj avaricious

Español	codicioso
Português	voraz
Français	rapace
Deutsch	unersättlich, habgierig
Ελληνικά	άπληστος áplistos
Русский	жадный žadnyj, алчный alčnyj

adj given to take by force

Español	rapaz
Deutsch	raubgierig
Ελληνικά	αρπακτικός arpaktikós

adj which subsists off live prey

Español	rapaz
Deutsch	Raub-
Italiano	rapace
Ελληνικά	αρπακτικός arpaktikós
Русский	хищный xiščnyj

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"rapacious." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rapacious. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rapacious. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rapacious

Chicago

"rapacious." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rapacious.

BibTeX

@misc{rapacious_2026,
  title = {rapacious},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rapacious},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}