Synonyms of rapacity

rapacity

noun

rə-ˈpa-sə-tē 

as in greed

an intense selfish desire for wealth or possessions

the rapacity of the Spanish conquistadors was such that they were undeterred by the very preposterousness of the legend of El Dorado

Synonyms & Similar Words

• greed
• avarice
• rapaciousness
• cupidity
• greediness
• acquisitiveness
• avariciousness
• desire
• covetousness
• thirst
• avidity
• appetite
• hunger
• avidness
• materialism
• possessiveness
• mercenariness
• commercialism
• graspingness
• craving
• lust
• gluttony
• longing
• voracity
• selfishness
• passion
• egotism
• egoism
• self-interest
• yearning
• ravenousness
• yen
• drive
• pining
• hankering
• piggishness
• itch
• gluttonousness
• self-centeredness
• self-regard

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• satisfaction
• gratification
• contentment
• fulfillment
• generosity
• liberality
• magnanimity
• largesse
• unselfishness
• bounty
• charity
• altruism
• selflessness
• bountifulness
• generousness
• openheartedness
• bounteousness
• openhandedness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of rapacity

This variation of socialism aimed to blunt the rapacity of capitalism rather than sharpen its contradictions and hasten the coming revolution. — Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026

The French—and, later, Anglo (Wilde, Beardsley, Rossetti)—attitude, mannered and morbid, was perhaps too Old World, at odds with our cheerful, Protestant rapacity. — Olivia Kan-Sperling, Artforum, 2 May 2026

Unlike the specialized literary magazine and its informal cousin, the literary blog, the general-interest newspaper has a kind of noble rapacity, an encyclopedic ambition to wrap its arms around the whole of the world. — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026

Trump’s entire doctrine is naked rapacity, from Venezuela to hijacking the Kennedy Center to hideously remaking the White House in his own gaudy image. — Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2026

In recent books, French has borrowed elements of the western genre to explore corporate rapacity in the era of climate change and looked at life in a small Irish village with the ear to both insider and outsider. — Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Adjacent to the Gold Room was the Bravo Bazaar, a mall of real commercial rapacity. — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2023

Nor has there ever been a time when the link between our rapacity and our present misery has felt as clear. — Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2023

For decades, sustainability efforts have focused on repair rather than renewal; at the same time, technological progress has plundered natural resources with increasing rapacity, and labor costs have outpaced material costs. — Longreads, 23 Sep. 2022