CARNIVOROUS Synonyms: 18 Similar and Opposite Words

carnivorous

adjective

Definition of carnivorous

as in aggressive

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Example 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 carnivorous The bloody red shrimp are herbivores when young, feeding on phytoplankton, and then add carnivorous activity as adults, adding zooplankton to their diet. — Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 3 July 2026 Pre-movie activities include plant puppet-making and carnivorous plant trivia. — Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026 Even the kindly Florida manatee, connoisseur of bayou seagrass, sometimes flies into a carnivorous rage, snapping up fish and gnashing them in its terrible teeth. — David Merritt Johns, The Atlantic, 27 June 2026 This classic summer vacation spot is also home to natural gifts, including Carolina Beach State Park, with some of the area's finest fishing and the Flytrap Trail, named for the carnivorous Venus Flytrap plants along its path. — Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 16 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for carnivorous

Recent Examples of Synonyms for carnivorous

Adjective

Andersen in particular has struggled with such an aggressive role, where recovery pace and stomping channel defending are required to keep the shape.

— Thom Harris, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Brown has two catches that converted third downs into firsts, providing a release valve against some aggressive Seahawks blitzes.

— Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of aggressive

Adjective

Bryan Singer’s ingenious thriller is both a graceful callback to ’50s potboilers and a savage modernization of them.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
Cole, who has to maneuver his way around 20 savage crew members, each of whom will need to be killed, doesn’t waste a homicidal movement.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of savage

Adjective

Deadly crash comes amid Labor Day travel The deadly crash happened during the Labor Day travel rush at the South Florida hub.

— Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
Jack Lang El Hadji Malick Diouf (Brentford) When Senegal beat England in a friendly last summer, the standout player was their rangy left-back, who seemed to spend the entire game ploughing up and down that flank and whipping in deadly crosses.

— David Ornstein, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of deadly

Adjective

In the days since, the incident has sparked another round of reckoning with safety for LGBTQ people in Sacramento’s Lavender Heights neighborhood, which has seen a number of violent incidents in recent years.

— Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Scientists hoped the probe would help build a geologic history of the moon to better understand its violent origins in a cosmic impact.

— Tariq Malik, Space.com, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of violent

Adjective

Giamatti makes Jerry ferocious but not monstruous, a man who certainly likes barking orders at various underlings but loves making good theater even more.

— Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
Up to this point, Ghostface victims have been stabbed with Buck 120 hunting knives, crushed by garage doors, shot, electrocuted, and thrown off rooftops in ferocious, balls-to-the-wall Scream fashion.

— Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of ferocious

Adjective

This is nothing less than a predatory act to replicate the city of Sunny Isles all over Florida, right under our noses.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2026
There is perhaps a subtle critique here, of the predatory instincts of the filmmaker towards their subject, of the desire to invade someone else’s life and shape their reality according to your own will.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of predatory

Adjective

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns BNSF, and the railroad is a fierce critic of Vena’s takeover bid for Norfolk Southern.

— John Lippert, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
Aaron Donald, one of the fiercest pass rushers in NFL history, is coming out of retirement to rejoin the Rams in hopes of winning another Super Bowl title.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of fierce

Adjective

In a satiric short video, Rabid Dogs, 2002, for example, white-collar workers dress upas rapacious canines, clutching Burberry bags in their mouths and traversing cubicles on all fours.

— Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
Meta hit back hard in its own opening statements Tuesday afternoon, saying many of the memos and reports the states used to paint them as rapacious were actually evidence of the company’s efforts to protect its youngest users.

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of rapacious

Browse Nearby Words

carnivores

carnivorous

caroche

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“Carnivorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carnivorous. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of carnivorous

adjective

Example Sentences

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