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
Like most eagles, the aviary says the female harpy is significantly larger than the male — sometimes twice the size.
—
Madeline Bartos,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
And because harpies rely on large emergent trees for nesting and an extensive, continuous canopy for hunting, even partial deforestation will severely disrupt their ability to breed and forage.
—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
In the right-wing imagination, these women are acting like harpies — an epithet often seen online — when they’re supposed to be helpmeets.
—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
20 Jan. 2026
Think a front desk hewn from Dionysos marble and sconces in the shape of harpies.
—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harpy
Madeline Bartos,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
And because harpies rely on large emergent trees for nesting and an extensive, continuous canopy for hunting, even partial deforestation will severely disrupt their ability to breed and forage.
—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
In the right-wing imagination, these women are acting like harpies — an epithet often seen online — when they’re supposed to be helpmeets.
—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
20 Jan. 2026
Think a front desk hewn from Dionysos marble and sconces in the shape of harpies.
—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harpy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpy
Noun
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These are important tools used for both feeding and building their dens and digging for other menu items such as mice, gophers, voles and shrews.
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See page 8 to order a shrew for $29, plus shipping and handling.
Noun
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In Britain, all the large predators had long since been exterminated and the smaller ones (like foxes) were ruthlessly persecuted.
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Adorned with almost graphically violent labels showcasing alpha predators -- a shark, a grizzly, an orca, a lion and some sort of particularly angry bird of prey -- the bottles are a far cry from the placid villas and languorous ladies plastered across so many wines.
Noun
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Like Lestat explains, there are levels of enjoyment for a vampire.
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Jones first floated the idea of rock star Lestat while the team filmed Season 2 in Prague in 2023, giving Wood time to begin imagining what a nearly 300-year-old vampire might wear while reinventing himself as a singer.
Noun
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Two days later, the Timberwolves did their best to shoo those vultures off for the time being by acquiring LaMelo Ball in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets.
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There are pink flamingos, then, but also many vultures circling the southern Adriatic.
Cite this Entry
“Harpy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpy. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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