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
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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
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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
-
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
-
The adaptable creatures thrive in urban and rural environments, and their range has expanded dramatically since 1900 — unlike other North American apex predators like wolves and bears, creatures with which humans have also struggled to share space with.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Having the ability to detect more of the surroundings and a bigger angle of view is advantageous to evade predators.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Written by Port and Wiseman, Eternally Yours is an eternal love story about two vampires, Liz (Edwards) and Charles (Weeks), who have been married for five hundred years, and their struggles to accept the human, Max (Lewison), who is dating their daughter, Emma (Shen).—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
9 Feb. 2026
-
And not just any vampires, but singing vampires!—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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To show their enduring affection, mated pairs of vultures synchronize their flight patterns, touch their beaks together in what looks like a kiss and entwine their long necks.—
K. R. Callaway,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Dumars insists on following the Miami-Dade Police Department rulebook by counting all the money at the scene, and the thriller quickly becomes a race against time as parties with vested interests in the stash house begin to circle like vultures.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harpies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpies. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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