HARPIES Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

harpies

noun

plural of harpy

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

Relevance

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

prey

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of harpies 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpies

Noun

In nature, larger animals, such as elephants and whales, tend to live longer than smaller animals, such as mice and shrews, Teeling says.

— Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2026
Better still are the mountain views that surround the lake and the robust collection of wildlife that call this place home, from voles, shrews, and marmots to elk, black bears, and porcupines.

— Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of shrews

Noun

In their larval stage, dragonflies are fierce aquatic predators that eat mosquito larvae.

— Chris Elphick, The Conversation, 6 Nov. 2026
Another jury in New Mexico found that Meta violated consumer protection laws and was negligent in protecting minors from predators on its platforms.

— Ted Johnson, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of predators

Noun

Sharpless says, in the West, sleep paralysis overlapped with stories about vampires, witches, and ghosts.

— RJ Mackenzie, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2026
The Atlas Group primed viewers to read his documents as unstable, but the later work asks them to contend with shrunken objects, resurrected paintings, and vampires lurking in the archive.

— Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of vampires

Noun

Black vultures, on the other hand, rely more heavily on sight and may watch other scavengers to locate food.

— Rachel Silva, Martha Stewart, 9 Nov. 2026
Scarabs, serpents, vultures, lunar ornaments, ancient gods like Horus and Anubis carved from gold and lapis lazuli—all strategically placed on various points along the body.

— Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 16 Oct. 2026