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
The researchers went through hundreds of rodent and shrew carcasses to look for mpox infections and found one: the carcass of a squirrel that had died less than three months before the outbreak started.
—
Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shrew
Noun
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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
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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
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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Some say she’s got the video vixen allure that would fit her seamlessly into the era over two decades later.—
Essence,
Essence,
6 Aug. 2025
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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
Noun
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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
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Because critics of social justice tend to inhabit the exact professional milieu where social justice has been most thoroughly integrated with the endless pursuit of profit.—
Book Marks
August 7,
Literary Hub,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson and Keke Palmer’s new action-comedy The Pickup is getting a harsh reception from Rotten Tomatoes critics.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 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 sure, heartbreak is universal, but to borrow another phrase: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Olivia Rodrigo is currently one of its loudest voices (again, a compliment).—
Jessi Roti,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Aug. 2025
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After one of the district’s last historic buildings was torn down in recent years, sparking fury and outcry, a movement began with an eye toward rebuilding Chinatown, and the DCVC was founded.—
Duante Beddingfield,
Freep.com,
26 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shrew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shrew. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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