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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Example Sentences
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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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For the study, researchers looked at 1,376 vertebrate species known to eat some amount of carrion, ranging from tiger sharks and spotted hyenas to cane toads and common shrews.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 June 2025
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The music hall performer Belle Elmore was dismissed by the press as a vulgar shrew.—
Jennifer Wright,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But their population has exploded in recent decades due to fast reproduction and few natural predators.—
Vanessa Countryman,
USA Today,
22 July 2025
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Last year, over 25 million people tuned in to watch the iconic predators.—
Irit Skulnik,
Baltimore Sun,
22 July 2025
Noun
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In that way, Broken Voices is about the circumstances that allow abuse to happen; Vitek is like a vampire, a cold and distant creature capable of great charm, and Karolina, in all her disarming naivety, is easy prey.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
10 July 2025
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So far, the answer seems to be blues-loving vampires, a cuddly alien and a life-sized block world.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Contrary to one famous 9th century CE codex, vulture eyes wrapped in a fox pelt will not reduce your own eye pains.—
Andrew Paul Jul 17,
Popular Science,
17 July 2025
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In some cases, there are binoculars to look at nature (wild pigs and vultures) as well as Launch Complex 39 – Pad B, from where the Hubble Space Telescope was sent up, and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harpy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpy. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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