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Glite Dictionary
to act like a buzzard

to act like a buzzard

9.9
To wait for someone else to have a problem so you can gain from it
  • idiom
  • Offensive
translation icon : comportarse como un buitre
  • Some journalists act like a buzzard, waiting for celebrities to have a scandal.

Examples

  • She accused him of acting like a buzzard during the layoffs, eager to get a promotion.

  • Don't act like a buzzard when your friend is struggling!

  • It felt uncomfortable to see my colleagues act like a buzzard after my mistake.

  • She always acts like a buzzard during tough times.

  • It's unkind to act like a buzzard when your teammates are struggling to meet deadlines.

  • During the difficult project, I noticed a few coworkers acting like buzzards, hoping to take advantage of others' mistakes.

  • He tends to act like a buzzard during meetings, waiting for others to falter so he can shine.

Synonyms

like buzzard over a carcass
vsto act like a buzzard
  • Informal
9.9

Someone acts in a greedy way while waiting to gain from someone else's trouble

waits eagerly for others to suffer so one can profit
to act like vultures
vsto act like a buzzard
  • Offensive
8.4

Try to get something from people when they are in trouble in a greedy way

waits for others' difficulties to happen before profiting from them

How Opportunistic

to act like a buzzard
  • Offensive
9.9
to prey
75 7.8
to exploit
214 5.6
to bide one's time
  • Informal
7.5

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

act + like + a + buzzard

The phrase is a metaphorical extension: 'act like' combined with 'buzzard' invites comparison to the scavenging, opportunistic behaviour of a carrion-feeding vulture, so a learner who knows 'buzzard' and that birds feed on others' misfortune can infer the meaning. Because it depends on world knowledge and a cultural animal metaphor rather than purely compositional semantics (and some learners may not know the specific word 'buzzard'), it is only partially predictable.

Etymology

The phrase act like a buzzard comes from the bird called a buzzard, which circles above and waits for sick or dead animals to eat. That's why the phrase means 'to wait for someone else's trouble so you can take advantage'.