Synonyms of rapacious

rapacious

adjective

rə-ˈpā-shəs 

1

as in greedy

having a huge appetite

nothing livens things up like a whole team of rapacious basketball players descending upon the pizza parlor

Synonyms & Similar Words

• greedy
• ravenous
• voracious
• gluttonous
• piggish
• hungry
• hoggish
• starving
• starved
• swinish
• edacious
• esurient
• wolfish
• insatiable
• devouring
• unquenchable
• gobbling
• famished
• hearty
• gorging
• gormandizing
• underfed
• malnourished
• undernourished
• peckish
• gulping
• unslakable
• empty

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• satisfied
• full
• content
• stuffed
• glutted
• satiated
• sated

2

as in predatory

living by killing and eating other animals

rapacious mammals, such as coyotes, foxes, and bobcats

Synonyms & Similar Words

• predatory
• aggressive
• ferocious
• raptorial
• predaceous
• wild
• deadly
• savage
• carnivorous
• violent
• fierce
• untamed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• herbivorous
• gentle
• tame
• submissive
• vegetarian

3

as in mercenary

having or marked by an eager and often selfish desire especially for material possessions

rapacious plunderers who despoiled the tombs in the ancient pyramids

Synonyms & Similar Words

• greedy
• mercenary
• avaricious
• eager
• acquisitive
• covetous
• avid
• grasping
• coveting
• moneygrubbing
• grabby
• desirous
• ravenous
• materialistic
• insatiable
• miserly
• piggish
• gluttonous
• hoggish
• voracious
• egocentric
• unquenchable
• devouring
• piggy
• discontented
• unsatisfied
• swinish
• grudging
• lickerish
• commercialistic
• itchy
• egotistic
• egoistic
• resentful
• self-centered
• discontent
• malcontent
• gobbling
• begrudging
• philistine
• self-seeking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• generous
• liberal
• altruistic
• handsome
• charitable
• magnanimous
• unselfish
• bountiful
• munificent
• selfless
• bounteous
• controlled
• unsparing
• restrained
• moderate
• nonmaterialistic
• temperate
• content
• openhanded
• satisfied
• openhearted
• sated
• freehanded
• greathearted

Synonym Chooser

How is the word rapacious different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of rapacious are gluttonous, ravenous, and voracious. While all these words mean "excessively greedy," rapacious often suggests excessive and utterly selfish acquisitiveness or avarice.

rapacious developers indifferent to environmental concerns

When can gluttonous be used instead of rapacious?

Although the words gluttonous and rapacious have much in common, gluttonous applies to one who delights in eating or acquiring things especially beyond the point of necessity or satiety.

an admiral who was gluttonous for glory

When could ravenous be used to replace rapacious?

The synonyms ravenous and rapacious are sometimes interchangeable, but ravenous implies excessive hunger and suggests violent or grasping methods of dealing with food or with whatever satisfies an appetite.

a nation with a ravenous lust for territorial expansion

When might voracious be a better fit than rapacious?

The meanings of voracious and rapacious largely overlap; however, voracious applies especially to habitual gorging with food or drink.

teenagers are often voracious eaters

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of rapacious

Back in the 1990s, Republicans put a muzzle on the most rapacious lawyers and passed laws to protect businesses from the most outrageous harassment lawsuits. —Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 1 Dec. 2025

Professional sports are rapacious for-profit enterprises that produce wildly entertaining, sometimes violent, and sometimes inspiring athletic competition. —Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2025

But what if their rapacious appetites had an unexpected side effect? —Rebecca Boyle, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2025

Having secured both monopolies and monopsonies, tech companies behave more like rapacious rentiers than proper capitalists. —Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025