as in harridan
a bad-tempered scolding woman
Rip Van Winkle went off into the mountains to escape his wife, a shrew who made his life miserable
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shrew
Here’s looking at shrew: How college students got first-ever photos of an elusive California mammal.
—
Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2025
The team also trapped three other species of shrew: the vagrant shrew, montane shrew and Merriam’s shrew.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
The trio ventured out into the eastern Sierra Nevada and captured six live Mount Lyell shrews (Sorex lyelli).
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 1 Feb. 2025
To photograph the shrews, the team had to work quickly.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2025
The team also trapped three other species of shrew: the vagrant shrew, montane shrew and Merriam’s shrew.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
The trio ventured out into the eastern Sierra Nevada and captured six live Mount Lyell shrews (Sorex lyelli).
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 1 Feb. 2025
To photograph the shrews, the team had to work quickly.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shrew
Noun
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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
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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
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
Noun
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However, Hernandez continued to pursue her despite knowing that the former video vixen is heterosexual.—
Mya Abraham,
VIBE.com,
3 Sep. 2019
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Have no fear, as the love affair between Elvis impersonator Sailor Ripley and vivacious vixen Lula Fortune will also be showing at Prince Charles Cinema in London on Saturday, February 8 and Monday, February 10.—
Harrison Richlin,
IndieWire,
2 Feb. 2025
Noun
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For those guys, mothers are either harpies or sirens—villains or traps.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
2 May 2024
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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
Noun
-
Nochlin, who died in 2017, was a pioneering feminist art critic.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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The play marked Clooney’s Broadway debut and was highly praised by critics.—
Renan Botelho,
Footwear News,
8 June 2025
Noun
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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
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Meredith is a stereotypical virago updated with modern libertarian notions.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
5 July 2023
Noun
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But their fury was too easily co-opted by the few who want to wantonly destroy and used the cover of protest to do so.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2025
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This is in spite of fury from supporters of both clubs, who have faced great uncertainty and pressure to secure tickets.—
Sam Leveridge,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shrew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shrew. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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