as in shrew
a bad-tempered scolding woman
the film portrays the figure skater's mother as a strict and controlling harridan
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Recent Examples of harridan
Given its plotting, Brooks’s movie could easily have made Iris into a harridan and Isaac into a sociopathic rogue.
—
Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 15 Aug. 2025
As written, and as played quite winningly by Siff, Silverman’s Tekla is neither a kitten nor a harridan.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 19 May 2025
And Day, with a face of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker, portrays her as a shrewd fusion of harridan and victim.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024
The subtext throughout is that Tendler is a harridan, a domineering scold.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2024
He was still steeled, still prepared for some harridan.
—Graham Swift, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2024
Richard Millet became a kind of referendum on what wasn’t yet termed cancel culture, with Ernaux denounced as a harridan intent on enforcing politically correct censorship at the expense of a man’s career.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
Throughout her tenure as House speaker, Pelosi has been painted by Trump supporters as an unhinged harridan: crazy, conniving and hungry for power.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
Allen’s account paints Mia Farrow as an abusive, baby-crazed harridan who beat and brainwashed her many children.
—Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2020
Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 15 Aug. 2025
As written, and as played quite winningly by Siff, Silverman’s Tekla is neither a kitten nor a harridan.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 19 May 2025
And Day, with a face of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker, portrays her as a shrewd fusion of harridan and victim.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024
The subtext throughout is that Tendler is a harridan, a domineering scold.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2024
He was still steeled, still prepared for some harridan.
—Graham Swift, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2024
Richard Millet became a kind of referendum on what wasn’t yet termed cancel culture, with Ernaux denounced as a harridan intent on enforcing politically correct censorship at the expense of a man’s career.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
Throughout her tenure as House speaker, Pelosi has been painted by Trump supporters as an unhinged harridan: crazy, conniving and hungry for power.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
Allen’s account paints Mia Farrow as an abusive, baby-crazed harridan who beat and brainwashed her many children.
—Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harridan
shrew
Noun
-
And the team has since published the complete genomic coding sequences for the new virus – Gainesville shrew mammalian orthoreovirus type 3 strain UF-1.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
14 July 2025
-
For the study, researchers looked at 1,376 vertebrate species known to eat some amount of carrion, ranging from tiger sharks and spotted hyenas to cane toads and common shrews.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harridan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harridan. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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