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
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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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In his closing argument on March 3, prosecutor Andrew Jones said the brothers masqueraded as party boys but really were predators.—
Luc Cohen,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
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Wasserman Schultz emphasized that her biggest concern is the dark web, where networks of predators buy and sell child pornography while evading detection.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Eternally Yours will tell an eternal love story about two vampires, Charles (Ed Weeks) and Liz (Allegra Edwards), who have been married for five hundred years, and their struggles to accept the human who is dating their daughter Emma (Helen J Shen).—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
2 Mar. 2026
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The movie is set in the Mississippi River Delta during the 1930s and tackles themes of music, race, family, religion and vampires.—
Yi-Jin Yu,
ABC News,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Others shot the bald vultures, whose wings can span 9½ feet and who can live more than 50 years.—
Lila Seidman,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Harpies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpies. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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