1
as in shrew
a bad-tempered scolding woman
in fairy tales stepmothers are often portrayed as harpies who make the lives of their stepchildren miserable
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2
as in predator
a person who habitually preys upon others
having just started to make it really big in the music business, he found himself surrounded by a flock of harpies greedy for a piece of the action
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Recent Examples of harpy
Others portrayed her as a harpy, a notoriously disagreeable mythical beast that was half bird-of-prey, half woman.
—
The Economist, 9 Nov. 2019
The clergy and royal courts in days of yore used images of griffins, hellmouths, harpies, dragons and sea swine to instill fear, to divide anxious populations, to assert dominance and control, and to ostracize non-Europeans.
—Steven Litt, cleveland.com, 1 Sep. 2019
Elizabeth Moss, as Claire, has based her career playing sad-sacks and harpies, in Mad Men, The Square, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Her Smell; so Moss is a comic actress by default.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 Aug. 2019
There are fairies and nymphs, unicorns, harpies, giants, ogres, trolls, Gollums and dragons.
—Patti Restivo, baltimoresun.com, 14 June 2019
See All Example Sentences for harpy
The Economist, 9 Nov. 2019
The clergy and royal courts in days of yore used images of griffins, hellmouths, harpies, dragons and sea swine to instill fear, to divide anxious populations, to assert dominance and control, and to ostracize non-Europeans.
—Steven Litt, cleveland.com, 1 Sep. 2019
Elizabeth Moss, as Claire, has based her career playing sad-sacks and harpies, in Mad Men, The Square, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Her Smell; so Moss is a comic actress by default.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 Aug. 2019
There are fairies and nymphs, unicorns, harpies, giants, ogres, trolls, Gollums and dragons.
—Patti Restivo, baltimoresun.com, 14 June 2019
See All Example Sentences for harpy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpy
Noun
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Leaf litter hosts life for hundreds of species: bacteria, ants, mushrooms, shrews.—
Marion Renault,
The Atlantic,
13 May 2025
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The researchers went through hundreds of rodent and shrew carcasses to look for mpox infections and found one: the carcass of a squirrel that had died less than three months before the outbreak started.—
Lillian Ali,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In Chicago and, in the obvious absence of alligators, the birds have found the largest carnivorous animals and apex predators around.—
Adriana Pérez,
Chicago Tribune,
4 June 2025
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Instead, their skeletons are made from mineralized cartilage, an adaptation that has helped these predators move through the oceans for over 400 million years.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
Noun
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Sinners — director Ryan Coogler’s hit vampire thriller starring Michael B. Jordan — is new on digital streaming this week.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
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And like microscopic vampires, the mites have evolved to avoid ultraviolet rays from the sun, which easily destroys their DNA.—
Kameryn Griesser,
CNN Money,
30 May 2025
Noun
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The tastemakers gave way to the number crunchers, and now the number crunchers are sending the TV channels off to the vultures.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
11 June 2025
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Now the vultures are circling on two of Huijsen’s fellow defensive mainstays last season in Milos Kerkez and Illia Zabarnyi.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
9 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harpy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpy. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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