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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Since arriving, the snakes have become top predators in the ecosystem and are severely reducing native mammal populations.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
28 Apr. 2026
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These snakes have become top predators in the ecosystem and are severely reducing native mammal populations.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Pajak’s Sam must drive home the lesson that the real vampires are those creatures who try to steal your true soul — your individuality.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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By the final showdown, the production has made use of every bit of stage space, with sensational flying sequences (choreographed by Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant) that allow the vampires to float, hover, and—in one especially intense moment—dive from that bridge.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Sudden encounters, like vultures sweeping overhead, turned curiosity into genuine excitement.—
Brit McCandless Farmer,
CBS News,
3 May 2026
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In some cases, however, those vultures circling the air over yesterday’s gallerias, plazas and megamalls are actually vulture investors.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harpies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpies. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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