Make Your Point: PREDATORY

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pronounce PREDATORY:

PRED uh tore ee

connect this word to others:

If, like me, you've dabbled in vegetarianism or even veganism, you've probably given a lot of thought to this inescapable truth: to stay alive, you have to steal life from other beings. Living is eating; eating is stealing.

We see that uncomfortable truth reflected in the Latin word praeda, meaning both "game that's hunted" and "booty or plunder that's stolen," the source of words like prey, predator, predatory, and __prehens__e ("nervous, as if your mind is pouncing predatorily on anxious thoughts and not letting go").

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

In a literal sense, predatory things and creatures are the kind that survive by preying on (killing and eating) other creatures.

And more abstractly, predatory things and people are the kind that survive (or even get wealthy) by hurting, stealing from, or manipulating other people.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "predatory lending practices," "Their lending practices are predatory."

Other forms:

Predatory people and groups are "predators," and they "prey" on their victims. (The other verb forms here are "preyed" and "preying.")

The adverb is "predatorily," as in "They lend money predatorily" or "Their interest rates are predatorily high."

how to use it:

The word "predatory" is common and formal, with a negative tone. It helps you call attention to the greed, cruelty, selfishness, and calculation of people who victimize others.

You might talk about predatory people and companies, predatory prices or policies, or predatory scams.

To emphasize the comparison to vicious animals, you might talk about a person's predatory gaze, instincts, stalking, or hunting.

examples:

"The feeling of [the wolf's] eyes on her had not left her. It seemed like it would never go away, that she would spend the rest of her life feeling that predatory gaze."
— Anne Ursu, Breadcrumbs, 2011

"Products consumers never asked for and often didn't realize they'd been signed up for were tacked on to a kind of loan that we already know people struggle to pay back. These tactics are predatory."
— Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post, 17 August 2022

has this page helped you understand "predatory"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "predatory" without saying "preying" or "lupine."

try it out:

In Neal Shusterman's novel Scythe, a character says:

"Human beings are predatory by nature... That nature may have been bleached out of us by the sanitizing force of civilization, but it can never be taken from us completely."

To what extent would you agree or disagree? Why?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "That's Not a Thing, That's Two Things."

I describe it; you name it! For example, if I give you "It's that thing where Steve Harvey hosts two groups competing as vassals in medieval Europe," then you give me "Family Feudalism." To see the answer, scroll to the bottom.

Try this today:

It's that thing on a brillig day where you shun frumious versions of hits from the album Under the Table and Dreaming.

review this word:

1. The opposite of PREDATORY could be

A. EFFICIENT.
B. TEMPORARY.
C. PROTECTIVE.

2. In Shaun David Hutchinson's book We Are The Ants, the narrator says: "Vice Principal Marten _____ the parking lot between classes, making sure only students with passes escape," and, later, "I swore I could hear the predatory whirr of Marten's golf cart approaching."

A. haunts
B. patrols
C. lounges in

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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