plural harpies
1
capitalized
: a foul malign creature in Greek mythology that is part woman and part bird
2
a
: a predatory person : leech
b
: a shrewish woman
Synonyms
Examples of harpy in a Sentence
in fairy tales stepmothers are often portrayed as harpies who make the lives of their stepchildren miserable
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
Recent Examples on the Web
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
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
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
But maybe these women aren’t evil vixens or cold-hearted harpies.
—Andrea Bartz, Marie Claire, 25 Feb. 2019
Teri Terrific, as she was known among friends, was much maligned in the film industry as a harpy who exploited Ms. Shields and turned her into an unprotesting meal ticket.
—Ruth La Ferla, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2018
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2023
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
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
But maybe these women aren’t evil vixens or cold-hearted harpies.
—Andrea Bartz, Marie Claire, 25 Feb. 2019
Teri Terrific, as she was known among friends, was much maligned in the film industry as a harpy who exploited Ms. Shields and turned her into an unprotesting meal ticket.
—Ruth La Ferla, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harpy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Harpy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/harpy. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
harpy
noun
har·py
ˈhär-pē 
plural harpies
1
capitalized
: a foul creature of Greek mythology that is part woman and part bird
2
a
: a greedy person
b
: an evil-tempered woman
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