A.Word.A.Day --rapacious

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Yesterday's Word

rapacious

PRONUNCIATION:

(ruh-PAY-shus)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Greedy; plundering.
2. (Animals) Living on prey: predacious.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin rapere (to seize). Ultimately from the Indo-European root rep- (to snatch) that also gave us rapid, ravish, ravage, rapt, and rape. Earliest documented use: 1572.

USAGE:

"Banana's history involved enough imperious diplomats, corrupt dictators, rapacious tycoons and exploited workers to fill many volumes."
Marc Levinson; Please, No More Bananas; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Jul 2, 2012.

See more usage examples of rapacious in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. -Helen Adams Keller, lecturer and author (1880-1968)

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