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
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Recent Examples of predatory
Still, the list has served as a roadmap for both the FBI and Louisiana State Police, which launched sweeping investigations into New Orleans church leaders’ shielding of predatory priests.
—
Brett Martel, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025
Meanwhile, predatory financial products such as earned wage access programs and buy-now-pay-later schemes were exacerbating the problem.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2025
But Dennis is a more complicated character: a cringey, almost predatory force who doesn’t know where to draw the line.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
In a landmark decision, Yellowstone Capital, a merchant cash advance provider, agreed to a $1 billion settlement over allegations of predatory lending practices, affecting upwards of 18,000 small businesses nationwide.
—John Yoo and John Shu, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for predatory 
Brett Martel, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025
Meanwhile, predatory financial products such as earned wage access programs and buy-now-pay-later schemes were exacerbating the problem.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2025
But Dennis is a more complicated character: a cringey, almost predatory force who doesn’t know where to draw the line.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
In a landmark decision, Yellowstone Capital, a merchant cash advance provider, agreed to a $1 billion settlement over allegations of predatory lending practices, affecting upwards of 18,000 small businesses nationwide.
—John Yoo and John Shu, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
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To that end, his meeting with the notoriously rapacious lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), who’d successfully prosecuted the Rosenbergs and served as Joseph McCarthy’s right hand in anti-Communist hearings, sets off a lucrative and sinister mentorship.—
Scott Tobias,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2025
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There are striking parallels between Deus Ex’s themes and Musk’s own intellectual interests, from transhumanism and rapacious capitalism through to conspiracy theories.—
Lewis Gordon,
Vulture,
14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Instead, her life was turned upside down last week after President Donald Trump’s administration began instituting mass layoffs as part of an aggressive effort to trim the federal workforce.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA TODAY,
17 Feb. 2025
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That aggressive style of play limited how often Creighton could set up a half-court offense anchored by 7-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who is four inches taller than Ejiofor, the biggest St. John’s starter.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
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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
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Damsel bugs are slender and tan-colored and have slightly raptorial front legs.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 July 2023
Adjective
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In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of prisoners and detainees, ranging from prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks to Palestinians detained during the war and held without charge.—
James Mackenzie, Emily Rose,
USA TODAY,
11 Feb. 2025
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However, the 64-year-old's girlfriend, Rain Hannah Andreani, 43, and her friend were rushed to hospital following the deadly smash, and one of the two pilots on board was killed.—
Justin Gest,
Newsweek,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The studio appeared eager to assure viewers that something wild might happen in this otherwise rote entry.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
14 Feb. 2025
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This remote sandbar off the coast of Nova Scotia is where the pinnipeds rest, breed, give birth to their pups, and mingle with the island’s wild horses.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Long before 17-year-old Solomon Henderson walked into his school cafeteria with a gun, authorities in Tennessee were alerted to his threatening and violent behavior.—
Aliyya Swaby,
ProPublica,
8 Feb. 2025
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What if, the thinking goes, the prospect of CTE becomes an excuse for any violent or criminal behavior?—
Vahe Gregorian,
Kansas City Star,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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It was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, which spread at ferocious speeds in high winds, eventually destroying more than 9,000 houses and buildings around Altadena, Calif.—
Lauren Sommer,
NPR,
23 Jan. 2025
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In the days after the fire, Anthony C. Marrone, the Los Angeles County fire chief, hammered the same message over and over: The flames were too ferocious and the winds too intense to stop the infernos of Tuesday night, Jan. 7.—
Jonathan Wolfe,
New York Times,
18 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near predatory
Cite this Entry
“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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