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

These are important tools used for both feeding and building their dens and digging for other menu items such as mice, gophers, voles and shrews.

— Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2026
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

Definition of shrews

Noun

The images could also be used by predators who can threaten to send them to a potential victim’s parents or friends unless kids pay them or meet other demands.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026
But the speedy predators have been unable to outrun a wasting disease that's killed billions of sea stars.

— John Ryan, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of predators

Noun

Bedbugs are sometimes called the vampires of the insect world — hiding during the day and coming out at night to feast on human blood.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026
The show followed Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, as a high school student who also saves the world from vampires and demons.

— Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 31 July 2026