rapacious

Definition

Voracious; avaricious.

Etymology

Perhaps from rapacity + -ous, in any case ultimately from Latin rapāx (“grasping, greedy”).

Example Sentences

• "To presume a want of motives for such contests [of power between states] as an argument against their existence, would be to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious."
• "Relations between the Waveney Valley Railway and the E.C.R. [Eastern Counties Railway] soon became strained, because of the rapacious attitude adopted by the latter, and to the mismanagement which it displayed in working the smaller company's line."
• "Big Tech companies, on the other hand, have proven themselves to be rapacious capitalists—they take as much as they can and ask for permission later."