1
: addicted or inclined to cannibalism among humans or animals
an inherent cannibalistic tendency in poultry
2
a
: analogous with or suggestive of the voracity of cannibalism
cannibalistic impulses attendant on teething a mother's cannibalistic fixation on a son
b
: derived from or akin to cannibalism
the cannibalistic principle of an acquisitive society
3
: given to or exhibiting cannibalism among associates in civilized society
a school of cannibalistic novelists a view of business as cannibalistic a chronic and cannibalistic appetite for personalities—
Aldous Huxley
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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