as in rapacious
living by killing and eating other animals
hawks are predatory and pose a danger to rabbits and other pets
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Recent Examples of predatory
Commonly found in vegetable gardens, borage attracts bees and predatory wasps with its attractive flowers.
—
Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Apr. 2026
Protesters who were part of that movement questioned why banks received governmental bailouts while households struggling with predatory student debt did not.
—Celina Su, The Conversation, 1 Apr. 2026
Some people have relied on predatory loans to get by.
—Clio Chang, Curbed, 25 Mar. 2026
For decades, discriminatory housing policies — including redlining, racially restrictive covenants and predatory land-sale contracts — systematically extracted the very wealth from Black families that fuels neighborhood investment.
—Tonika Lewis Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for predatory
Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Apr. 2026
Protesters who were part of that movement questioned why banks received governmental bailouts while households struggling with predatory student debt did not.
—Celina Su, The Conversation, 1 Apr. 2026
Some people have relied on predatory loans to get by.
—Clio Chang, Curbed, 25 Mar. 2026
For decades, discriminatory housing policies — including redlining, racially restrictive covenants and predatory land-sale contracts — systematically extracted the very wealth from Black families that fuels neighborhood investment.
—Tonika Lewis Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
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Queensland had a rapacious frontier in the 19th century, which led to the establishment of the Native Mounted Police in 1848.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
19 Mar. 2026
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But then there is the rapacious Bavarian and national media, for whom negativity about Bayern is big business, and a dressing room always loaded with forthright personalities and egos.—
The Athletic Staff,
New York Times,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Paolo Banchero set the tone early with an aggressive, assertive first half that dictated the flow of the game.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Apr. 2026
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Many were acquired between 2019 and 2022 at elevated valuations and financed with aggressive leverage, assumptions that are now being tested in a higher-rate environment.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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These food-crops also benefit from the work performed by predaceous insects that control populations of crop-eating invertebrates.—
Bruce Beehler,
Baltimore Sun,
17 Aug. 2025
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Biological control: Parasitic wasps, predaceous beetles and birds assist in lowering sawfly populations.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Villegas pushed for the original measure after dangerous speeding and red-light running by raptorial tow drivers ended in a nearly catastrophic crash in his ward that saw a bus that had been hit by a tow truck plow through a storefront.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2025
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Damsel bugs are slender and tan-colored and have slightly raptorial front legs.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 July 2023
Adjective
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For the first time since Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades engulfed his apartment building in November, Mak stepped into his former home again Monday.—
Kanis Leung,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
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Over the following decades, state and federal investigators linked the pipe to multiple explosions, including a fatal blast in Lake Dallas in 1997 and a deadly explosion in Garland in 2000 that killed three people.—
Brian New,
CBS News,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Having a husband who engaged with his kids with ferocious tenderness and playful delight was a gift.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Apr. 2026
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After some ferocious wildfire years, insurers faced massive losses.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Wong earlier shared wild video of the car takeover on social media showing multiple cars doing tire-screeching donuts near a ring of fire on the street, with a passenger in one car holding a large Palestinian flag out the window.—
Roni Jacobson,
New York Daily News,
20 Apr. 2026
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The area Life is decidedly unhurried in this part of the world, where the sunkissed monte landscape is punctuated by cork, olive, and oak trees, wild horses frolic in meadows, and huge granite dolmens hint at a pagan past.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The famed African American journalist investigated lynchings across the South and wrote about the savage incidents that the white press had already explained away.—
Case Thorp,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2026
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The loss of books is minor, almost trivial, in light of all the horrors and violence unleashed by this senseless war, but the potential loss of these books is a sad reminder that we’re all affected and implicated in America’s savage flailings.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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