rapacity

noun

ra·​pac·​i·​ty rə-ˈpa-sə-tē 

: the quality of being rapacious

Synonyms of rapacity

• greed

Examples of rapacity in a Sentence

the rapacity of the Spanish conquistadors was such that they were undeterred by the very preposterousness of the legend of El Dorado

Recent Examples on the Web

Sudan’s civil war, a conflict credibly described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, has seen violence matched only by the belligerents’ rapacity in pillaging the country’s riches. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026

This variation of socialism aimed to blunt the rapacity of capitalism rather than sharpen its contradictions and hasten the coming revolution. — Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026

The French—and, later, Anglo (Wilde, Beardsley, Rossetti)—attitude, mannered and morbid, was perhaps too Old World, at odds with our cheerful, Protestant rapacity. — Olivia Kan-Sperling, Artforum, 2 May 2026

Unlike the specialized literary magazine and its informal cousin, the literary blog, the general-interest newspaper has a kind of noble rapacity, an encyclopedic ambition to wrap its arms around the whole of the world. — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French rapacité, borrowed from Latin rapācitāt-, rapācitās, from rapāc-, rapāx "given to seizing or catching things (as prey), rapacious" + -itāt- -itās -ity

First Known Use

1543, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rapacity

• audacity
• capacity
• fugacity
• loquacity
• mendacity
• opacity
• sagacity
• tenacity
• veracity
• vivacity
• voracity
• incapacity

Kids Definition

rapacity

noun

ra·​pac·​i·​ty rə-ˈpas-ət-ē 

: the quality of being rapacious