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
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Recent Examples of predatory
They apparently got caught opening up their systems to predatory resellers, which is a betrayal of fans and artists.
—
Jem Aswad, Variety, 20 Oct. 2025
After incarceration, Wright will be required to register as a predatory offender and be on conditional release for 10 years.
—Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 18 Oct. 2025
Birds, parasitic wasps, ladybugs, and other predatory insects are enemies of fall armyworms.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 14 Oct. 2025
Growth done right means building thriving, connected communities where families can live, work, and play without spending hours stuck in traffic or paying predatory toll prices just to move.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predatory
Jem Aswad, Variety, 20 Oct. 2025
After incarceration, Wright will be required to register as a predatory offender and be on conditional release for 10 years.
—Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 18 Oct. 2025
Birds, parasitic wasps, ladybugs, and other predatory insects are enemies of fall armyworms.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 14 Oct. 2025
Growth done right means building thriving, connected communities where families can live, work, and play without spending hours stuck in traffic or paying predatory toll prices just to move.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
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People still live beyond the confines of these fantastical constructions, but in a very dangerous world plagued by poverty, criminal gangs, rapacious rulers, and, most treacherous of all, unrepressed memories of an earlier time when exhilaration was imaginable.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Oct. 2025
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But what if their rapacious appetites had an unexpected side effect?—
Rebecca Boyle,
Scientific American,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The incident comes amid growing scrutiny of the aggressive tactics used by Border Patrol and ICE, including against US citizens.—
Zoe Sottile,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
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The Chiefs were again aggressive on fourth down — and successful at stopping them, too.—
Scott Chasen,
Kansas City Star,
2 Nov. 2025
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
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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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Over time, this computer becomes a deadly antagonist of the astronauts on the ship.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said before the Monday celebration that after a difficult year, which included deadly wildfires, Los Angeles deserves something positive.—
Steve Futterman,
NPR,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Just a big ferocious ball of meat, claws, and teeth.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
31 Oct. 2025
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Though the storm did not make a direct hit on Haiti, its ferocious rains caused rivers to flood and jump their banks.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The honks of wild Canada geese, for instance, fresh out of the Arctic and now high in the clouds going south, signal a change in seasons for me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
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The Jets finally earned their first win of the season in Week 8 after a wild comeback against the Cincinnati Bengals, but with their 1-7 record and seemingly no future in sight, new general manager Darren Mougey has opted to ship his star corner.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The warm, relatable territory where the first season ends up doesn’t fully square with the savage satire promised by the pilot.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Oct. 2025
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August Strindberg’s savage chamber drama gets transported to Ireland in Liv Ullmann’s sharp, surprisingly suspenseful adaptation.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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