HARPIES Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

harpies

noun

plural of harpy

as in shrews

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

Relevance

as in predators

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

prey

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 harpies 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 In the right-wing imagination, these women are acting like harpies — an epithet often seen online — when they’re supposed to be helpmeets. — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2026 Think a front desk hewn from Dionysos marble and sconces in the shape of harpies. — Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 11 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpies

Noun

And unlike voles and other plant-eating garden visitors, shrews rarely damage plants, roots, or bulbs.

— Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 15 Sep. 2026
These are important tools used for both feeding and building their dens and digging for other menu items such as mice, gophers, voles and shrews.

— Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2026

Definition of shrews

Noun

Known as the Shark Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site, the place gets its name from English buccaneer-cum-naturalist William Dampier, who was overcome by the bay’s sheer abundance and the size of the marine predators during a visit in 1699.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
These top predators require large home ranges to live and hunt in, about 200 square miles (518 square kilometers) for males and 75 square miles (194 square kilometers) for females, so space is a scarce resource.

— Timothy Randhir, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of predators

Noun

The mayor is missing, the mafia is involved, a mad scientist rules the basement and all the prostitutes are vampires.

— Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Ghosts have gone more mainstream than vampires, no longer grouped with the other weird freaks— the zombies and the werewolves, that paranormal genre once ascribed only to lovers of the macabre.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026