1
as in shrews
a bad-tempered scolding woman
in fairy tales stepmothers are often portrayed as harpies who make the lives of their stepchildren miserable
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in predators
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harpies
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpies
Noun
-
The tiny bodies of weasels, shrews and bats burn energy so fast that skipping even one meal can mean starvation.—
Leonie Baier,
The Conversation,
27 Feb. 2026
-
In animal studies, TDN helped obese mice and musk shrews lose weight and become more responsive to insulin.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Bear safety guidelines at the park call for visitors to stay 150 feet away from the predators or face fines and arrest, officials say.—
Mark Price
April 21,
Charlotte Observer,
21 Apr. 2026
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Add Predator Deterrents Installing bee houses at least 3 feet off the ground will deter some predators.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Not in terms of the scale of its sets—we’ll leave that to the giant staircase in The Queen of Versailles, or whatever is going on with the flying vampires of The Lost Boys—but in terms of the most tropes crammed into one two-act stretch.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The network has given a series order to Eternally Yours, a show about a family of vampires.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Overhead, vultures, crows and gulls swarmed, feeding on carcasses and insects and other waste.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
15 Apr. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Harpies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpies. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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