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Recent Examples of fishwife
In addition to Brecht’s typical didacticism, there is a haunting passage for a fishwife whose son died in one of Lucullus’s campaigns.
—
Seth Colter Walls, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2020
An old fishwife sees a lobster try to escape and whacks it back in with her net.
—Casey Quackenbush / Hong Kong, Time, 12 July 2018
Seth Colter Walls, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2020
An old fishwife sees a lobster try to escape and whacks it back in with her net.
—Casey Quackenbush / Hong Kong, Time, 12 July 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fishwife
Noun
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Given its plotting, Brooks’s movie could easily have made Iris into a harridan and Isaac into a sociopathic rogue.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Aug. 2025
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As written, and as played quite winningly by Siff, Silverman’s Tekla is neither a kitten nor a harridan.—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
19 May 2025
Noun
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The shrew is one of these mammals, according to the study.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
27 Aug. 2025
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The elephant shrew genus Macroscelides was the sole exception, shifting to omnivory after adopting myrmecophagy during the Eocene.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
ArsTechnica,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But the film belongs to Moreno, clearly relishing the chance to play an unapologetic termagant.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Mar. 2022
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Rita may be a bossy termagant, but her adoring Beppe appears to love being whacked around from time to time, so what’s the harm?—
John Von Rhein,
chicagotribune.com,
15 Apr. 2018
Noun
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During a recent appearance on VladTV, the iconic video vixen opened up about her experience touring the country at 14 years old and how the period exposed her to predatory behavior from associates of 2 Live Crew and other celebrities.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
29 Sep. 2025
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The album’s campaign and editorial aesthetic has made references to everything from classic Grace Jones images to hair metal vixens.—
Brittany Spanos,
Rolling Stone,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Skin is important here, not just its color but its texture as Josephine, for example, goes from elegant sophisticate to sweaty, sunburned, frizzy virago increasingly swollen with pregnancy and angry mosquito bites.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
25 Aug. 2023
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Meredith is a stereotypical virago updated with modern libertarian notions.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
5 July 2023
Noun
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Think a front desk hewn from Dionysos marble and sconces in the shape of harpies.—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
11 Aug. 2025
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For those guys, mothers are either harpies or sirens—villains or traps.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
2 May 2024
Cite this Entry
“Fishwife.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fishwife. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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