rapacious

UK: /rəˈpeɪʃəs/ US: /rəˈpeɪʃəs/ ,(rə pā′shəs)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ra•pa•cious /rəˈpeɪʃəs/   adj. 

1. overly grasping; greedy:
   rapacious gangsters.
2. Animal Behavior (of animals) living by capturing prey.

ra•pa•cious•ness, ra•pac•i•ty /rəˈpæsɪti/  n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ra•pa•cious  (rə pā′shəs), adj. 

1. given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
2. inordinately greedy; predatory;
   extortionate:
   a rapacious disposition.
3. Zoology, Animal Behavior (of animals) subsisting by the capture of living prey;
   predacious.

• Latin rapāci- (stem of rapāx greedy, akin to rapere to seize; see rape¹) + -ous
• 1645–55

ra•pa′cious•ly, adv. 
ra•pac•i•ty  (rə pas′i tē), ra•pa′cious•ness, n.  Synonyms

• 2. ravenous, voracious, grasping; preying. See avaricious. 

Antonyms

• 2. generous.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

rapacious / rəˈpeɪʃəs/ adjective

1. practising pillage or rapine
2. greedy or grasping
3. (of animals, esp birds) subsisting by catching living prey

Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin rapāx grasping, from rapere to seize

raˈpaciously adverb

rapacity / rəˈpæsɪtɪ/, raˈpaciousness noun