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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 shrew
The 2025 list of extinctions includes a bird, a shrew and a species of snail, among others.
—
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 18 Oct. 2025
The shrew is one of these mammals, according to the study.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2025
The elephant shrew genus Macroscelides was the sole exception, shifting to omnivory after adopting myrmecophagy during the Eocene.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, ArsTechnica, 20 Aug. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 18 Oct. 2025
The shrew is one of these mammals, according to the study.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2025
The elephant shrew genus Macroscelides was the sole exception, shifting to omnivory after adopting myrmecophagy during the Eocene.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, ArsTechnica, 20 Aug. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shrew
Noun
-
Into this vacuum, a misogynistic sense of her as a harridan or a drug-using flake emerged.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
3 Feb. 2026
-
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
Noun
-
Rather than returning to a patient Penelope, Rip has fled the termagant Dame Van Winkle.—
John Swansburg,
The Atlantic,
10 Oct. 2025
-
But the film belongs to Moreno, clearly relishing the chance to play an unapologetic termagant.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Mar. 2022
Noun
-
But where the original video vixen era prioritized physical spectacle and often reduced its subjects to aesthetic objects, this new wave is about intentional community-building.—
Olivia Shalhoup,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Now she’s forged her own beauty direction as a vixen—think video girl or classic pinup.—
Kirbie Johnson,
Allure,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And because harpies rely on large emergent trees for nesting and an extensive, continuous canopy for hunting, even partial deforestation will severely disrupt their ability to breed and forage.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
-
There was misogyny, of course: women are harpies or one of the boys.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Trump has been actively endorsing challengers against Republican critics ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
17 May 2026
-
But this week could bring what critics call the most brazen move yet.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 May 2026
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
-
That climaxes in a kaleidoscope of styles where Esteban, directing one scene, erupts in fury, reverting to a verbal and physical violence which Emilia obviously knew and suffered as child, Sorogoyen explains.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
16 May 2026
-
What’s that famous saying about hell hath no fury?—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shrew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shrew. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
