Meanings
nounbeast of prey (plural beasts of prey)
plural beasts of prey
- A carnivorous animal that hunts for its food, especially one that preys on vertebrates.
- figurativelyA predatory person, savagely cruel and ruthless in their treatment of others.
Much controversy has surrounded Nietzsche’s writings on the “higher” and “lower” types of man. Is he to be taken as glorifying the cruel tyrant, the “beast of prey”, or did he have some less repulsive ideal? The answer seems to be neither an unqualified yes nor an unqualified no.
1973, Philippa Foot, “"Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values"”, in Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, New York, editors, Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, Anchor Books, →ISBN, page 160
Translations
Arabic سَبْع
- سَبْع (sabʕ)animal
Bulgarian хи́щник
- хи́щник (híštnik)animal
Chinese Mandarin 食肉動物 /食肉动物, 猛獸 /猛兽
- 食肉動物 /食肉动物 (shíròu dòngwù)animal
- 猛獸 /猛兽 (měngshòu)animal
Czech šelma
- šelmaanimal
Dutch roofdier
- roofdieranimal
Esperanto rabobesto
- rabobestoanimal
Finnish peto, petoeläin
- petoanimal
- petoeläinanimal
French bête de proie
- bête de proieanimal
German Raubtier
- Raubtieranimal
Greek κτήνος
- κτήνος (ktínos)animal
Hungarian ragadozó
- ragadozóanimal
Indonesian hewan pemangsa, pemangsa
- hewan pemangsaanimal
- pemangsaanimal
Japanese 肉食動物
- 肉食動物 (nikushoku dōbutsu)animal
Korean 육식동물, 맹수
- 육식동물 (yuksikdongmul)animal
- 맹수 (maengsu)animal
Portuguese predador
- predadoranimal
Russian хи́щник
- хи́щник (xíščnik)animal
Slovak šelma
- šelmaanimal
Spanish fiera
- fieraanimal
Swedish rovdjur
- rovdjuranimal
Turkish yırtıcı hayvanlar
- yırtıcı hayvanlaranimal
Cite this entry
APA
beast of prey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beast%20of%20prey
MLA
“beast of prey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beast%20of%20prey. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beast of prey,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beast%20of%20prey.
Source: beast of prey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.