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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Recent Examples of predatory
Formed after the 2008 banking crisis, the CFPB has a broad mandate to protect Americans from unfair, deceptive or predatory financial practices.
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Tony Romm The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 1 Dec. 2024
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency championed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2011 to protect consumers against predatory financial services, has ramped up enforcement actions against fintech and financial services companies under President Biden.
—Jeff Kauflin, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Millions of people depend on government jobs, and on the protections that regulators provide from predatory businesses, like those that gave us opioid abuse and cigarettes as a cure for asthma.
—Simon Shuster, TIME, 21 Nov. 2024
Although my office understands the inconvenience caused by employers who don’t pay workers frequently enough, or bills that come due between paychecks, the answer is not payday and other predatory loans that charge more than permitted by law.
—Anthony G. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for predatory 
Tony Romm The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 1 Dec. 2024
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency championed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2011 to protect consumers against predatory financial services, has ramped up enforcement actions against fintech and financial services companies under President Biden.
—Jeff Kauflin, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Millions of people depend on government jobs, and on the protections that regulators provide from predatory businesses, like those that gave us opioid abuse and cigarettes as a cure for asthma.
—Simon Shuster, TIME, 21 Nov. 2024
Although my office understands the inconvenience caused by employers who don’t pay workers frequently enough, or bills that come due between paychecks, the answer is not payday and other predatory loans that charge more than permitted by law.
—Anthony G. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for predatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predatory
Adjective
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The archetypal Russia is a malign autocracy, the archetypal United States a rapacious hegemon.Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 25 Jan. 2024
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has argued that the war with Ukraine is really a war with a rapacious NATO out to destroy Russia.Maria Snegovaya, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Kristin talks with peers, peers’ parents, and every staff member, explaining how the dog is trained, how to behave around it, and soothing any worries regarding potential aggressive actions.Ethan Stone, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024
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Atlanta’s aggressive defense disrupted the Knicks’ rhythm early and often.Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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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
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People may be aware that consumer debt collection is predaceous and corrupt; that low-income people face terrible odds in family or housing court; that anyone hoping to receive government benefits depends on the whim, and competence, of bureaucrats seeking to cut costs.Kathryn Joyce, The New Republic, 22 June 2020
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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Assad's downfall, if it's confirmed, also marks the latest stunning development in one of the deadliest civil wars of the 21st century.Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 8 Dec. 2024
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Still, Penny grabbed him from behind and put him in a deadly chokehold.Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 8 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The audience goes wild when Foxx brings back some of his legendary characters and impersonations.Elizabeth Blair, NPR, 10 Dec. 2024
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What grief does to people is pretty wild to behold.Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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After a violent campaign in which Buddhists killed a number of priests and destroyed churches, in 1909, locals built the church that Galipeau visited in Cizhong.Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 17 Dec. 2024
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Prosecutors also said that some of the violent pornography Heuermann owned included methods consistent with the injuries to Mack's body and how she was bound with ropes.Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Light winds, increasing humidity and a chance of rain are forecast to bring relief to Los Angeles on Thursday after dry and windy conditions fueled the spread of the ferocious Franklin fire in Malibu this week.Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
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Tehran, Washington, and five other world powers later inked an agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program in 2015, despite ferocious lobbying from Israeli leaders.Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 10 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near predatory
Cite this Entry
“Predatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predatory. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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