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Bars shouldn’t let people buy drinks for strangers and shouldn’t facilitate this very outdated—and quite frankly predatory—practice.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
-
On May 29, Russia launched a series of deadly attacks across Ukraine, killing at least seven civilians.—
Katya Soldak,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
-
Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
31 May 2025
Adjective
-
This was still wild country, and Fuller set off with the express purpose of producing a book about her journey.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
About 90% of wild flowering plants and 75% of food crops around the world depend on pollination to produce fruits and seeds, according to the National Park Service.—
Lauren Villagran,
USA Today,
2 June 2025
Adjective
-
This sweeping action included both nonviolent participants and those convicted of violent crimes against law enforcement.—
Alia Shoaib,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
-
Individual plots veer between cartoonish farce (the gang accidentally makes friends with a violent criminal) and more mundane problems (Billie loses her insurance and gets into medical debt).—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
28 May 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 11 Jun. 2025.
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