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rapacity

 - 3 dictionary results

ra⋅pa⋅cious

  [ruh-pey-shuhs]
Use rapacity in a Sentence
–adjective
1. given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
2. inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate: a rapacious disposition.
3. (of animals) subsisting by the capture of living prey; predacious.
Origin:
1645–55; < L rapāci- (s. of rapāx greedy, akin to rapere to seize; see rape 1 ) + -ous

Related forms:
ra⋅pa⋅cious⋅ly, adverb
ra⋅pac⋅i⋅ty  [ruh-pas-i-tee] , ra⋅pa⋅cious⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. ravenous, voracious, grasping; preying. See avaricious.

Antonyms:
2. generous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rapacity
ra·pa·cious   (rə-pā'shəs)   
adj.  

  1. Taking by force; plundering.

  2. Greedy; ravenous. See Synonyms at voracious.

  3. Subsisting on live prey.


[From Latin rapāx, rapāc-, from rapere, to seize; see rep- in Indo-European roots.]
ra·pa'cious·ly adv., ra·pac'i·ty (rə-pās'ĭ-tē), ra·pa'cious·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

rapacity 
1543, from M.Fr. rapacité (16c.), from L. rapacitatem (nom. rapacitas) "greediness," from rapax "grasping" (gen. rapacis) "plundering," from rapere "seize" (see rapid). Rapacious first attested 1651.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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