as in shrew
a bad-tempered scolding woman
the film portrays the figure skater's mother as a strict and controlling harridan
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Recent Examples of harridan
As written, and as played quite winningly by Siff, Silverman’s Tekla is neither a kitten nor a harridan.
—
Jesse Green, New York Times, 19 May 2025
And Day, with a face of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker, portrays her as a shrewd fusion of harridan and victim.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024
The subtext throughout is that Tendler is a harridan, a domineering scold.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2024
He was still steeled, still prepared for some harridan.
—Graham Swift, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2024
Richard Millet became a kind of referendum on what wasn’t yet termed cancel culture, with Ernaux denounced as a harridan intent on enforcing politically correct censorship at the expense of a man’s career.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
Throughout her tenure as House speaker, Pelosi has been painted by Trump supporters as an unhinged harridan: crazy, conniving and hungry for power.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
Allen’s account paints Mia Farrow as an abusive, baby-crazed harridan who beat and brainwashed her many children.
—Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2020
Still, for a generation brought up to smile in the face of almost any affront or risk being tarred as a harridan, older women’s indignation seems ripe for reassessment.
—New York Times, 30 July 2019
Jesse Green, New York Times, 19 May 2025
And Day, with a face of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker, portrays her as a shrewd fusion of harridan and victim.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024
The subtext throughout is that Tendler is a harridan, a domineering scold.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2024
He was still steeled, still prepared for some harridan.
—Graham Swift, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2024
Richard Millet became a kind of referendum on what wasn’t yet termed cancel culture, with Ernaux denounced as a harridan intent on enforcing politically correct censorship at the expense of a man’s career.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
Throughout her tenure as House speaker, Pelosi has been painted by Trump supporters as an unhinged harridan: crazy, conniving and hungry for power.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
Allen’s account paints Mia Farrow as an abusive, baby-crazed harridan who beat and brainwashed her many children.
—Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2020
Still, for a generation brought up to smile in the face of almost any affront or risk being tarred as a harridan, older women’s indignation seems ripe for reassessment.
—New York Times, 30 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harridan
shrew
Noun
-
Leaf litter hosts life for hundreds of species: bacteria, ants, mushrooms, shrews.—
Marion Renault,
The Atlantic,
13 May 2025
-
The researchers went through hundreds of rodent and shrew carcasses to look for mpox infections and found one: the carcass of a squirrel that had died less than three months before the outbreak started.—
Lillian Ali,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harridan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harridan. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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