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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Recent Examples of shrew
While native mammals span from the endemic Cretan lesser white-toothed shrew to the Blasius’s horseshoe bat, the preserve is perhaps best known for its high concentration of Cretan goats, a type of ruminant that serves as the official mascot of the park.
—
Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
According to the Lincoln Park Zoo, northern tree shrews are most closely related to primates and have no relation to actual shrews other than a coincidental resemblance to them.
—Rhiannon Saegert, Miami Herald, 20 Feb. 2025
Here’s looking at shrew: How college students got first-ever photos of an elusive California mammal.
—Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2025
The team also trapped three other species of shrew: the vagrant shrew, montane shrew and Merriam’s shrew.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
According to the Lincoln Park Zoo, northern tree shrews are most closely related to primates and have no relation to actual shrews other than a coincidental resemblance to them.
—Rhiannon Saegert, Miami Herald, 20 Feb. 2025
Here’s looking at shrew: How college students got first-ever photos of an elusive California mammal.
—Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2025
The team also trapped three other species of shrew: the vagrant shrew, montane shrew and Merriam’s shrew.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shrew
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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But the film belongs to Moreno, clearly relishing the chance to play an unapologetic termagant.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Mar. 2022
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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
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Today’s Wordle Etymology The word vixen comes from Middle English fixen, a southern dialectal form of fox with a feminine suffix -en (similar to how ox → oxen for plural).—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
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However, Hernandez continued to pursue her despite knowing that the former video vixen is heterosexual.—
Mya Abraham,
VIBE.com,
3 Sep. 2019
Noun
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For those guys, mothers are either harpies or sirens—villains or traps.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
2 May 2024
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This is her name for the seventh circle of hell from Dante’s Inferno, where the souls of those who’ve committed suicide become trees, and harpies peck at them for all eternity.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
21 Nov. 2023
Noun
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However, Trump’s take on business — relying on a host of ventures built to maximize quick profits — is far grander than his minimalist views on national economics, which critics view as bordering on severe.—
Emily Hallas,
The Washington Examiner,
21 June 2025
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Yeah, critics missed the point with this series, and especially missed the point with Retribution (seriously, a 28% rating?!).—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
21 June 2025
Noun
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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
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Meredith is a stereotypical virago updated with modern libertarian notions.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
5 July 2023
Noun
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And he is compelled by a righteous fury to warn others of his son’s dark path to self-annihilation.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
22 June 2025
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Israel, in its fury, decimated Hamas and wiped out its leadership—including Sinwar—and also killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
21 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shrew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shrew. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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