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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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
-
Often, officials said, pimps and predators are looking for young, vulnerable people in order to exploit them.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Island conservationists say the deer, which fluctuate in numbers between 500 and 1,800, have no natural predators and are destroying native vegetation found only on the island.—
Julie Sharp,
CBS News,
2 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
What's more, she's now embedded in a family of vampires who keep emphasizing how good her blood smells.—
Lincee Ray,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Energy vampires are everywhere, thirsty for a selfie or a sound bite or a Zoom.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Roman, Romulus, Remus were all offspring contenders—but then the money-vultures on Succession put the kibosh on that.—
Raven Smith,
Vogue,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harpies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpies. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
