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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Recent Examples of predatory
Bars shouldn’t let people buy drinks for strangers and shouldn’t facilitate this very outdated—and quite frankly predatory—practice.
—
Hana Asbrink, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 May 2025
Forest monkeys, which have relatively simple social groups, mostly use vocalizations to manage predatory threats, Townsend said.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 11 May 2025
Tablets: Secrets of the Clay by Dunya Mikhail Sue Halpern
For the Love of Money
Sarah Wynn-Williams’s damning memoir of working at Facebook exposes the predatory cupidity of the company’s executives.
—Rachel Nolan, The New York Review of Books, 9 May 2025
Without gainful employment rules or borrower defense, critics warn the door is reopened for predatory practices by low-quality institutions.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for predatory
Hana Asbrink, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 May 2025
Forest monkeys, which have relatively simple social groups, mostly use vocalizations to manage predatory threats, Townsend said.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 11 May 2025
Tablets: Secrets of the Clay by Dunya Mikhail Sue Halpern
For the Love of Money
Sarah Wynn-Williams’s damning memoir of working at Facebook exposes the predatory cupidity of the company’s executives.
—Rachel Nolan, The New York Review of Books, 9 May 2025
Without gainful employment rules or borrower defense, critics warn the door is reopened for predatory practices by low-quality institutions.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
-
In recent years, the rise of even less scrupulous and more rapacious influencer commentariat, with enormous YouTube and social followings, has further escalated the pressures celebrities face.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
21 May 2025
-
The Mets could make that offer because the team is now owned by one of the richest men in the country, Steve Cohen, a hedge-fund billionaire with a reputation on Wall Street for being reclusive and rapacious.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
Adjective
-
Addressing the Obvious Critiques Yes, 3–4% real growth is aggressive.—
Don Muir,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
-
After the aggressive animal showed no signs of leaving, the woman’s boyfriend fatally shot it, officials said.—
Paloma Chavez,
Sacbee.com,
3 June 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
-
While people who have had measles gain immunity, there can be risks and deadly consequences.—
Joseph States,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2025
-
The Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon the next day after the rapper allegedly entered the wrong home while looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people.—
Jenna Sundel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 June 2025
Adjective
-
Kohlrabi reappears in a soup over apple and shellfish ceviche, while wild asparagus is bathed in rosemary, thyme, and za’atar, then finished with a green jus and osetra caviar.—
Rooksana Hossenally,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
-
Today, California’s wild pigs are often hybrids, with both domestic pig and European wild boar ancestors.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
13 June 2025
Adjective
-
The protests had been largely peaceful throughout Friday and Saturday, with isolated instances of violent activity.—
Michael Wilner,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2025
-
Noni finds herself up against Lion’s violent henchmen and women in series of fight-to-the-death encounters aboard the tyrant’s grandiose sailing ship, which lies at the heart of a vast naval fleet.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
America, then, was visible to Fuller as the ferocious winds destroyed the vessel.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
The Thunder are deep, play ferocious defense and have a star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who embraces the big moment.—
Bob Harkins,
New York Times,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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