as in shrew
a bad-tempered scolding woman
fairy tales that typically portray stepmothers as viragoes
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of virago
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
Despite the work’s title, Dejanira is the one who dominates the action, evolving through seven arias from impatient wife to imperious virago to despairing murderer.
—Christopher Corwin, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020
Their mother, Lucy, who had abandoned the family for a freer life and left the children with her husband, is a raging virago crushed by guilt (Mamie Gummer in an impressive performance).
—Dorothy Rabinowitz, WSJ, 10 Jan. 2019
Jessica Kiang, Variety, 25 Aug. 2023
Meredith is a stereotypical virago updated with modern libertarian notions.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2023
Despite the work’s title, Dejanira is the one who dominates the action, evolving through seven arias from impatient wife to imperious virago to despairing murderer.
—Christopher Corwin, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020
Their mother, Lucy, who had abandoned the family for a freer life and left the children with her husband, is a raging virago crushed by guilt (Mamie Gummer in an impressive performance).
—Dorothy Rabinowitz, WSJ, 10 Jan. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for virago
Noun
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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
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The music hall performer Belle Elmore was dismissed by the press as a vulgar shrew.—
Jennifer Wright,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 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
Cite this Entry
“Virago.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/virago. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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