Synonyms of harpy

harpy

noun

ˈhär-pē 

1

as in shrew

a bad-tempered scolding woman

in fairy tales stepmothers are often portrayed as harpies who make the lives of their stepchildren miserable

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shrew
• harridan
• battle-axe
• termagant
• vixen
• virago
• battle-ax
• critic
• dragon lady
• fury
• gorgon
• fishwife
• scold
• nitpicker
• detractor
• faultfinder
• railer
• carper
• censurer
• quibbler
• caviller
• castigator
• caviler
• pettifogger
• derider
• belittler

2

as in predator

a person who habitually preys upon others

having just started to make it really big in the music business, he found himself surrounded by a flock of harpies greedy for a piece of the action

Synonyms & Similar Words

• predator
• vampire
• vulture
• shark
• wolf
• user
• buzzard
• kite
• bloodsucker
• exploiter
• leech
• sponge
• sponger
• destroyer
• devourer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• prey

Examples of harpy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The clergy and royal courts in days of yore used images of griffins, hellmouths, harpies, dragons and sea swine to instill fear, to divide anxious populations, to assert dominance and control, and to ostracize non-Europeans. —Steven Litt, cleveland.com, 1 Sep. 2019

Elizabeth Moss, as Claire, has based her career playing sad-sacks and harpies, in Mad Men, The Square, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Her Smell; so Moss is a comic actress by default. —Armond White, National Review, 9 Aug. 2019

There are fairies and nymphs, unicorns, harpies, giants, ogres, trolls, Gollums and dragons. —Patti Restivo, baltimoresun.com, 14 June 2019

But maybe these women aren’t evil vixens or cold-hearted harpies. —Andrea Bartz, Marie Claire, 25 Feb. 2019