Rapacious

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /rəˈpeɪ.ʃəs/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃəs

Origin

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

Full definition of rapacious

Adjective

1. Voracious; avaricious.
• 1787, Alexander Hamilton, :To presume a want of motives for such contests power between states as an argument against their existence, would be to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious.
2. Given to taking by force or plundering; aggressively greedy.
• 1910, Niccolò Machiavelli (translated by Ninian Hill Thomson), The Prince, :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. (of an animal, usually a bird) Subsisting off live prey.
• 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, :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 ...

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

Related terms

• rapaciously
• rapaciousness
• rapacity