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Glite Dictionary
to act like vultures

to act like vultures

8.4
Try to get something from people when they are in trouble in a greedy way
  • idiom
  • Offensive
translation icon : aprovecharse (de alguien)
  • After the landlord died, his distant relatives acted like vultures, fighting over his estate.

Examples

  • As soon as the company announced layoffs, a few recruiters began to act like vultures around the building.

  • When the housing bubble burst, some buyers started to act like vultures, looking for cheap properties.

  • Don't act like vultures during this crisis!

  • They always act like vultures when someone is down.

  • After the landlord died, his distant relatives acted like vultures, fighting over his estate.

  • As soon as the company announced layoffs, a few recruiters began to act like vultures around the building.

  • When the housing bubble burst, some buyers started to act like vultures, looking for cheap properties.

Synonyms

to take advantage
vsto act like vultures
549 4.6

To use a person or situation to get an unfair benefit for yourself

is narrower focusing on profiting from trouble rather than general use
to take advantage of
vsto act like vultures
465 2.5

Use someone's trust or weakness to get something unfairly

is more about profiting from others' misfortune than general use
to exploit
vsto act like vultures
214 5.6

To use someone or something in an unfair way to get an advantage

has a stronger image of waiting for hardship to profit
to prey
vsto act like vultures
75 7.8

To use people who are weak or trusting to get what you want

focuses on taking chances from misfortune rather than direct aggression
to leech
vsto act like vultures
  • Offensive
8 7.5

To take advantage of someone by always using their help or money without giving anything back

is less about waiting for misfortune and more about ongoing draining
to leech off
vsto act like vultures
  • Offensive
4 7.9

To take money, food, or help from someone without giving anything back

is more about seizing temporary misfortune than long term parasitic taking
to parasitize
vsto act like vultures
1 8.0

To use a person or thing to get benefit while giving little back

emphasizes taking advantage of misfortune rather than ongoing dependence
to act like a buzzard
vsto act like vultures
  • Offensive
9.9

To wait for someone else to have a problem so you can gain from it

is about seizing chance during hardship rather than just waiting

Antonyms

to support
∞ 1.0

Give help to a person or idea

compassionate
151 3.7

Feeling concern and care for people who suffer

How Opportunistic

to act like vultures
  • Offensive
8.4
to prey
75 7.8
to exploit
214 5.6
to benefit
676 2.3

Surface Forms

act like vultures infinitive
acted like vultures past
acted like vultures past participle
acting like vultures present participle
acts like vultures third person singular

Morphology

act + like + vulture

The meaning 'to take advantage of someone else's difficulties' is directly derivable from 'act' (behave) + 'like' (in the manner of) + 'vultures' (scavenging/predatory animals), so the metaphorical mapping to opportunistic behaviour is transparent. This animal-as-predator comparison is common cross-linguistically and follows a straightforward simile pattern that a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer.

Etymology

Act like vultures comes from the bird vulture, which waits for dead or very weak animals and then quickly moves in to eat. So when people act like vultures, they 'take advantage' of someone in trouble to get something for themselves.