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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of predatory Scorpions are not typically found in the Boston area but over 2,000 species of the predatory arachnids exist worldwide, according to the Mayo Clinic. Jon Haworth, ABC News, 4 Mar. 2025 Here’s Why The GOP Is Divided How predatory lending can slip inside of your investing? James Brewer, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025 The agency was instrumental in the Biden administration's work to address deceptive or predatory business practices. Laurel Wamsley, NPR, 8 Feb. 2025 Of course, the vast majority of these conscious-community figures aren’t leading cults, breaking laws, or condoning anyone who is, but there’s an openness to unconventional beliefs and conspiracy theories that the more predatory characters take advantage of. David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
  • The rapacious Chicago Teachers Union took advantage of an inexperienced Mayor Lori Lightfoot, ramming legislation through Springfield phasing out mayoral control of public schools.
    Forrest Claypool, Chicago Tribune, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Such support might marginally improve Chad’s rapacious security sector.
    Nathaniel K. Powell, Foreign Affairs, 1 Feb. 2016
Adjective
  • Trump prompts a more aggressive digital posture Democrats adopted a more combative stance online in recent weeks as Trump’s moves to slash the federal workforce drew protests from liberals and pushback at GOP town halls.
    Matt Brown, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2025
  • As a result, teams are taking a more aggressive approach.
    Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • Biden officials are offering up to 30,000 migrants per month a two-year permit to live and work in the United States under the terms of the program, and say such legal pathways are successfully steering migrants toward a safer and more orderly option than the one offered by predacious smugglers.
    Nick Miroff, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Feb. 2023
Adjective
  • 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
  • Damsel bugs are slender and tan-colored and have slightly raptorial front legs.
    Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 July 2023
Adjective
  • The deadly weapon, prosecutors say, was Diaz's own bodily fluids.
    Chris Spargo, People.com, 20 Mar. 2025
  • The mothers connect to participate in public awareness campaigns, sharing their stories to warn young people and their families about fentanyl, the deadly drug often sold illicitly by dealers as prescription pills on social media accounts.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • New Zealand winemakers have experimented with different styles of Sauvignon Blanc, including oak aging, barrel fermentation, and wild/natural fermentation, among other things, providing a broader range of styles to meet diverse consumer preferences.
    Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025
  • Night 2 also offered a fresh addendum to an existing favorite piece of animation: their signature skeleton’s wild chopper ride.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • The Indiana Crime Guns Task Force was signed into law in 2021 and addresses violent crime in Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan, Johnson and Shelby counties, according to the Indiana General Assembly’s website.
    Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2025
  • The storm, which produced violent tornadoes, raging wildfires, and blinding dust storms, decimated homes, toppled vehicles, and left entire communities reeling from the devastation.
    Mark Davis, Newsweek, 16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Hot Spring Shark Attack is set in a small, hot spring town in Japan, where a ferocious ancient shark reawakens and terrorizes the local hot spring facilities.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Moments of ferocious, wall-of-noise intensity come interspersed with passages of beautiful calm, like vape breaks between stints inside a dungeon rave.
    Sam Davies, Rolling Stone, 19 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.

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