predacious
- adjective
- /prɪˈdeɪʃəs/
:
depredador
- In the wild, the predacious animal stalks its prey with stealth and cunning.
Examples
-
Intending to turn the biosystem's own predatory nature on itself, the Ghanx carefully developed and then released several predacious forms of viruses, bacteria, and algae onto the planet.
Fiction book (1999) -
The predacious businessman used deceitful tactics to undermine his competitors.
-
Her predacious behavior in negotiations often left others feeling exploited and unvalued.
Synonyms
43
6.1
Trying to take advantage of people to get money or power
4
9.3
Very greedy for money and willing to take things from others
3
7.3
Using people or situations unfairly to get personal benefit
An animal or person who harms others for personal gain
To treat people unfairly to get money or other benefits
Antonyms
How Predatory
Surface Forms
Morphology
predacious = pred + acious
Although the word ends in a familiar adjectival suffix, the stem is not a recognizable modern English base, so the meaning is not transparently recoverable for learners.
Etymology
Predacious comes from the Latin word praeda, which means 'booty' or 'prey' and is the same root behind predator and the English word prey. So a predacious person or company is like someone who 'preys' on others to take money or advantage.