Bloodsucking

//ˈblʌdˌsʌkɪŋ// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Parasitic, leechlike behavior. countable, uncountable

    "Economic blood-sucking of the Indian peoples, who are forced to pay immense sums of money to sustain rich Indian Civil Servants"

Adjective
  1. 1
    That draws off the blood of another animal, or a person. not-comparable

    "Bedbugs win neither praise for their sophisticated technique, nor very much respect for the fact that they don’t carry diseases, as most bloodsucking human ectoparasites do."

  2. 2
    parasitic, leechlike or freeloading broadly, not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    drawing blood from the body of another wordnet
  2. 2
    of plants or persons; having the nature or habits of a parasite or leech; living off another wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
blackmailbloodyextortionextortionategrabbygrasping

Example

More examples

"Industrial neighborhoods that included residential shacks and stables, belching smokestacks and a huge gas-storage tank, the city’s most opulent brothel, and a muddy lane called “Louse Alley” — as in the bloodsucking insect — rose just across the Capitol’s reflecting pool."

Etymology

From blood + sucking.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.