1.
meat-eating, carnivorous
Eating meat, or the practice of eating meat. Used both for animals (carnivorous) and humans (meat-eating diet).
ライオンは肉食動物だ。
Lions are carnivorous animals.
肉食を控えて野菜中心の食事にした。
I cut back on meat and switched to a vegetable-based diet.
恐竜の中には肉食と草食の両方がいたことが化石から分かっている。
It is known from fossils that there were both carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs.
2.
aggressive, assertive (in pursuing romance)
Slang describing someone who is aggressive or proactive in pursuing romantic or sexual relationships. Contrasted with 草食 (herbivore), which describes passive, unassertive people.
彼は肉食系だから、すぐ声をかける。
He's the aggressive type, so he'll approach someone right away.
最近は肉食系女子が増えたと言われている。
It's said that assertive women have been increasing recently.
草食系の男性が増える一方で、肉食系の女性も目立つようになってきた。
While passive men are on the rise, assertive women have also become more noticeable.
USAGE NOTE:
Sense 2 became widespread around the late 2000s as part of the 草食系/肉食系 typology used to describe dating attitudes. The contrast is: 肉食系 = aggressive, proactive; 草食系 = passive, uninterested.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 肉食動物 (carnivore, meat-eating animal)
- 肉食系 (aggressive type, carnivore type)
- 肉食系男子/女子 (assertive man/woman)
- 肉食を控える (cut back on meat)
CONTRAST:
- 草食: herbivorous; passive/unassertive (in dating context)