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 avaricious

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

Then from 1830 to 1850, rapacious British whalers hunted them nearly to extinction here in Recherche, where the pregnant mothers would come to give birth. — Adam Erace, Travel + Leisure, 4 Aug. 2026

Capitalism’s rapacious use of the planet has run up a tab to be paid by both future generations and the poor currently living in the Global South. — Literary Hub, 23 July 2026

Young women being preyed upon and seduced by rapacious Hollywood producers, stars and studio heads is a tired cliché, but like all clichés, it is based on reality. — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 6 June 2026

Is no one else bothered by the rapacious greed? — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 May 2026