Learn English – What’s the opposite of “vegetarian”

antonymsword-request

If someone hates salad, and mostly eats meat, they basically are the opposite of vegetarians. What do you call those people in English? I guess there is no such a thing as meatarian.

Best Answer

Carnivore is the noun used for any animal that eats meat, while omnivore is used for an animal or a person that eats plants and meat.
Although carnivore is generally used to mean an obligate carnivore (animals whose metabolism is not able to synthesize nutrients from vegetal matter), you could jokingly say you are a carnivore to mean you don't eat vegetables.

To be more clear, vegetarian means "a person that doesn't eat meat or fish" because that is a decision that person made, while carnivore doesn't imply any choice. Animals don't decide to be carnivore or herbivore, in the same way human beings are omnivore without having done any choice.