rapacious

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /rəˈpeɪʃəs/ UK /rəˈpeɪʃəs/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
aggressively greedy or grasping

The rapacious landlord raised the rent yet again.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · aggressively greedy or... greedy grasping avaricious predatory voracious ravenous covetous

Opposites

generous charitable

Word family

Derived forms rapaciouslyrapaciousnessrapacity

Related forms rapine rape rapt ravish

Etymology

From Latin rapax (stem rapac-) ('grasping, greedy'), from rapere ('to seize, snatch').

rapax Latin rapere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# rapacious

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** rəˈpeɪʃəs
**IPA (UK):** rəˈpeɪʃəs

## Meanings
1. aggressively greedy or grasping

## Examples
- The rapacious landlord raised the rent yet again.

## Synonyms
- greedy
- grasping
- avaricious
- predatory
- voracious
- ravenous
- covetous

## Antonyms
- generous
- charitable

## Derived Forms
- rapaciously
- rapaciousness
- rapacity

## Related Forms
- rapine
- rape
- rapt
- ravish

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rapax
- Root: rapere

## Etymology
From Latin rapax (stem rapac-) ('grasping, greedy'), from rapere ('to seize, snatch').

## AI Etymology
Rapacious comes from Latin rapax (stem rapac-) ('grasping, greedy'), from rapere ('to seize, snatch'). The historical chain includes Latin rapax and Latin rapere. The quoted older senses, "grasping, greedy" and "to seize, snatch", supply the semantic anchors for rapacious. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word rapacious carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "aggressively greedy or grasping". English derivatives include rapaciously, rapaciousness, and rapacity; related English forms include rapine, rape, rapt, and ravish. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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rapacious

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