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 WebThe rapacity with which Edmund followed his prey is painful to read: To extort money from the merchant haberdasher Thomas Sunnyff and his wife, Agnes, for example, Edmund framed them for infanticide and threw them in jail.—Catherine Ostler, WSJ, 24 Mar. 2023 For decades, sustainability efforts have focused on repair rather than renewal; at the same time, technological progress has plundered natural resources with increasing rapacity, and labor costs have outpaced material costs.—Longreads, 23 Sep. 2022 Nor has there ever been a time when the link between our rapacity and our present misery has felt as clear.—Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2023 According to the American Trucking Associations, though, the trucker shortage is quite real—the product of an aging workforce, the industry’s struggle to recruit women, and the ballooning of freight volumes thanks to our rapacity as consumers.—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rapacity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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
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