RAPACIOUS Synonyms: 106 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'rapacious' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of rapacious are gluttonous , ravenous , and voracious . While all these words mean "excessively greedy," rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice. // rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

Q: When can 'gluttonous' be used instead of 'rapacious'?

Although the words gluttonous and rapacious have much in common, gluttonous applies to one who delights in eating or acquiring things especially beyond the point of necessity or satiety. // an admiral who was gluttonous for glory

Q: When could 'ravenous' be used to replace 'rapacious'?

The synonyms ravenous and rapacious are sometimes interchangeable, but ravenous implies excessive hunger and suggests violent or grasping methods of dealing with food or with whatever satisfies an appetite. // a nation with a ravenous lust for territorial expansion

Q: When might 'voracious' be a better fit than 'rapacious'?

The meanings of voracious and rapacious largely overlap; however, voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink. // teenagers are often voracious eaters

rapacious

adjective

rə-ˈpā-shəs

Definition of rapacious next

as in greedy

having a huge appetite nothing livens things up like a whole team of rapacious basketball players descending upon the pizza parlor

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in predatory

living by killing and eating other animals rapacious mammals, such as coyotes, foxes, and bobcats

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in mercenary

having or marked by an eager and often selfish desire especially for material possessions rapacious plunderers who despoiled the tombs in the ancient pyramids

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word rapacious different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of rapacious are gluttonous, ravenous, and voracious. While all these words mean "excessively greedy," rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice.

rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

When can gluttonous be used instead of rapacious?

Although the words gluttonous and rapacious have much in common, gluttonous applies to one who delights in eating or acquiring things especially beyond the point of necessity or satiety.

an admiral who was gluttonous for glory

When could ravenous be used to replace rapacious?

The synonyms ravenous and rapacious are sometimes interchangeable, but ravenous implies excessive hunger and suggests violent or grasping methods of dealing with food or with whatever satisfies an appetite.

a nation with a ravenous lust for territorial expansion

When might voracious be a better fit than rapacious?

The meanings of voracious and rapacious largely overlap; however, voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink.

teenagers are often voracious eaters

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rapacious Our hunger, since the Second World War, has become rapacious. —

Katherine Rundell, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024 The president’s daily press conferences routinely portray his party as concerned for the poor, combating rapacious elites, and defending national sovereignty against internal and external threats, including opposition parties and foreign influence. —

Denise Dresser, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2024 Additionally, don't miss Hunter River’s thick mangrove system, which shelters rapacious saltwater crocodiles and Indigenous rock art scribed thousands of years ago in Vansittart Bay. —

Kerry Spencer, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Dec. 2023 He was believed to have been the model for the character of Gordon Gekko, the rapacious villain played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street. —

Greg Farrell, Fortune, 20 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for rapacious

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rapacious

Adjective

His skin, a greedy shade of brown, seems to eat up all the light.

Essence, Essence, 5 Nov. 2024
Like Kato and Sunja’s margarita date last week, this is another small moment that moves as much, if not more, than any of the larger emotional gestures in the show — some pleasures are immune to misery’s greedy hands.

Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2024