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
• termagant
• vixen
• virago
• battle-ax
• critic
• dragon lady
• fury
• gorgon
• fishwife
• scold
• nitpicker
• detractor
• faultfinder
• railer
• carper
• censurer
• quibbler
• 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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of harpy

Think a front desk hewn from Dionysos marble and sconces in the shape of harpies. — Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 11 Aug. 2025

For those guys, mothers are either harpies or sirens—villains or traps. — Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024

This is her name for the seventh circle of hell from Dante’s Inferno, where the souls of those who’ve committed suicide become trees, and harpies peck at them for all eternity. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2023

Karen is, of course, the generic name for the ubiquitous American harpy who, through the long summer of 2020, pitched fits about masks and sometimes about race, in public spaces. — Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 18 Aug. 2020