as in harridan
a bad-tempered scolding woman
Rip Van Winkle went off into the mountains to escape his wife, a shrew who made his life miserable
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shrew
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, 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
Leaf litter hosts life for hundreds of species: bacteria, ants, mushrooms, shrews.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
The music hall performer Belle Elmore was dismissed by the press as a vulgar shrew.
—Jennifer Wright, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
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
Leaf litter hosts life for hundreds of species: bacteria, ants, mushrooms, shrews.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
The music hall performer Belle Elmore was dismissed by the press as a vulgar shrew.
—Jennifer Wright, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shrew
Noun
-
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
Noun
-
But the film belongs to Moreno, clearly relishing the chance to play an unapologetic termagant.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Mar. 2022
-
Rita may be a bossy termagant, but her adoring Beppe appears to love being whacked around from time to time, so what’s the harm?—
John Von Rhein,
chicagotribune.com,
15 Apr. 2018
Noun
-
During a recent appearance on VladTV, the iconic video vixen opened up about her experience touring the country at 14 years old and how the period exposed her to predatory behavior from associates of 2 Live Crew and other celebrities.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
29 Sep. 2025
-
The album’s campaign and editorial aesthetic has made references to everything from classic Grace Jones images to hair metal vixens.—
Brittany Spanos,
Rolling Stone,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Think a front desk hewn from Dionysos marble and sconces in the shape of harpies.—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
11 Aug. 2025
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For those guys, mothers are either harpies or sirens—villains or traps.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
2 May 2024
Noun
-
After deep staff reductions in the spring, critics argued, in court and elsewhere, that the Education Department was not capable of carrying out its statutory functions with such a small staff.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 Oct. 2025
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But at least, according to Rotten Tomatoes, critics have largely awarded the film their glowing endorsements.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Skin is important here, not just its color but its texture as Josephine, for example, goes from elegant sophisticate to sweaty, sunburned, frizzy virago increasingly swollen with pregnancy and angry mosquito bites.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
25 Aug. 2023
-
Meredith is a stereotypical virago updated with modern libertarian notions.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
5 July 2023
Noun
-
Little life was left in this spot where White Sage’s fury must have been severe.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
20 Oct. 2025
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Just a few more blocks away is the derelict CVS that has become a lightning rod of neighborhood fury, a monument to gross neglect.—
Wes Burdine,
Twin Cities,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shrew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shrew. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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