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
This is her name for the seventh circle of hell from Dante’s Inferno, where the souls of those who’ve committed suicide become trees, and harpies peck at them for all eternity.
—
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2023
Karen is, of course, the generic name for the ubiquitous American harpy who, through the long summer of 2020, pitched fits about masks and sometimes about race, in public spaces.
—Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 18 Aug. 2020
Others portrayed her as a harpy, a notoriously disagreeable mythical beast that was half bird-of-prey, half woman.
—The Economist, 9 Nov. 2019
Those kinds of sentiments have multiplied on social media, which has exploded with memes in recent days calling the four everything from terrorists to harpies to cancer.
—Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times, 27 July 2019
See All Example Sentences for harpy
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2023
Karen is, of course, the generic name for the ubiquitous American harpy who, through the long summer of 2020, pitched fits about masks and sometimes about race, in public spaces.
—Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 18 Aug. 2020
Others portrayed her as a harpy, a notoriously disagreeable mythical beast that was half bird-of-prey, half woman.
—The Economist, 9 Nov. 2019
Those kinds of sentiments have multiplied on social media, which has exploded with memes in recent days calling the four everything from terrorists to harpies to cancer.
—Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times, 27 July 2019
See All Example Sentences for harpy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpy
Noun
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See page 8 to order a shrew for $29, plus shipping and handling.—
Jeff Wilson,
Outdoor Life,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Because for the most part, Caroline comes off as a rigid uptight shrew.—
Lisa DePaulo,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Clustered together in shallow water, the turtles are too slow and too exposed to hide or escape predators.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
30 Mar. 2026
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Clustered together in shallow water, the turtles are too slow and exposed to hide or escape predators.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Not the red shirts, whose career life expectancy can be counted on a salt vampire's fingers, but the staff that turns up after the Enterprise has saved the day?—
Chris McMullen,
Space.com,
30 Mar. 2026
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Vanessa Van Helsing wakes up from a coma to discover that a volcanic eruption has blotted out the sun, letting vampires prey 24/7.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The Yurok Tribe is leading the effort to bring the large, endangered vultures back to their historic homeland in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.—
Lila Seidman,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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Becky is dehydrated and delirious, but manages to nourish herself after strangling and eating a vulture that attacked her on the platform.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harpy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpy. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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