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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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 predatory Washington, having failed to convince Beijing to change its predatory economic policies or to move forward with an alternative trading bloc to counterbalance China, was left with one option: the United States had to become more like China. Michael B. G. Froman, Foreign Affairs, 25 Mar. 2025 The agency protects consumers from more than just predatory mortgage loans, though. Samantha Delouya, CNN, 16 Mar. 2025 Abby from Weyauwega bore witness to those predatory instincts when her dog caught sight of a squirrel in her garden. Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2025 Here are a few policy changes that could make a real difference: Implementing a national usury cap on interest rates, including payday loans, would protect vulnerable borrowers from predatory lending practices. Aisha Nyandoro, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
  • But providing that service shouldn’t require charging rapacious fees that exploit the most financially vulnerable.
    Jemima McEvoy, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Of abuse and coercion by rapacious family members eager to get their hands on an inheritance.
    Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • But in recent weeks, Musk dramatically lowered his taxpayer savings estimates from DOGE's government cuts, disagreed publicly with Trump's aggressive tariff policies and butted heads with multiple Trump officials, some publicly, revealing divisions within the White House over Musk's influence.
    Joey Garrison, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2025
  • Moderate Republicans from swing districts are balking at deep cuts to social safety net programs, even as hardliners demand more aggressive reductions.
    Nik Popli, Time, 29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Biological control: Parasitic wasps, predaceous beetles and birds assist in lowering sawfly populations.
    Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2025
  • Look for and conserve natural enemies such as predaceous bugs, lacewings, lady beetles, and syrphids.
    The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Jan. 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
  • Detailed testimonies of refugees along the Balkan route therefore challenge the conventional wisdom that officials tend to protect them from raptorial smugglers.
    Max Abrahms, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2017
Adjective
  • At least eight people were killed in drone strikes across the country, a night after Russia launched its deadliest bombardment of Ukraine since the middle of last year.
    Todd Symons, CNN Money, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Listen to this article A woman driver who fatally struck a 57-year-old pedestrian in Brooklyn in January has been arrested— three months after the deadly crash, police said.
    Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Niemann, a grandmaster, beat Carlsen in an upset in a 2022 match, leading Carlsen to withdraw from the tournament and setting off wild speculation about whether Niemann could have cheated, though no such allegations were ever proven.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 27 Apr. 2025
  • This ferocious, steep-banked corner possesses a wild 24% gradient, a nod to Spain’s bullfighting heritage.
    Kanzah Maktoum, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The ads target the state House Democrats over taxes and violent crime, as well as women’s and girl’s safety.
    Julia Manchester, The Hill, 22 Apr. 2025
  • Related: Trump administration captured 'very violent' top street gang leader.
    Krystal Nurse, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • This ferocious, steep-banked corner possesses a wild 24% gradient, a nod to Spain’s bullfighting heritage.
    Kanzah Maktoum, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
  • But this team was special, with a watertight defence combined with a ferocious forward line of Ronaldo (his best goalscoring season for United), Rooney and Tevez.
    Nick Miller, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 3 May. 2025.

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