rapacious
Something rapacious is out to devour — anything, and little can stand in its way. A rapacious landlord is out for more rent, and a rapacious eater is only satisfied at the all-you-can-eat buffet.
A 17th-century word, from the Latin rapere, "to snatch," rapacious originally described the people and animals who often preyed on weaker creatures and devoured them, by eating them or by ruining them through some scandal. Modern-day companies even get the label rapacious when their appetites for profit seem to devour "lesser" interests, like the environment and employee benefits.
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living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey
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excessively greedy and graspingacquisitiveeager to acquire and possess things especially material possessions or ideas
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devouring or craving food in great quantities
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Vocabulary lists containing rapacious
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