Dictionary

harpy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɑːpi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈhɑɹpi/ (General-American)

Etymology

Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.

Meanings

1. A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of a maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds.
   • Both table and provisions vanish'd quite, With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard. 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
2. (derogatory) A shrewish woman.
   • […] Ed Miliband has yet to come up with a definition of “the squeezed middle” that excludes anyone, but you can bet your bottom dollar he has these laptop-wielding harpies in mind. 2011 March 17, Toby Young, “Mumsnet isn't representative of the 'squeezed middle'. It's just a bunch of Guardian-reading, laptop-wielding harpies”, in The Telegraph, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2011:
   • But her most subtle wiles proved ineffectual in ridding her, even for a moment, of her harpy jailer[…] 1927, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Outlaw of Torn, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
3. One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
   • c. 1772, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs. Bunbury The harpies about me all pocket the pool.
4. Any of a number of eagle-like birds of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae, especially the species Harpia harpyja.
5. The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).

Forms

Deriveds

harpyish · harpy fly · harpy bat · harpylike · harpy eagle

Relateds

harridan

Synonyms

virago · bitch · hellcat · vixen · cat · shrew · brim · battle axe · termagant · faggot · crow · harpy · dragon · nudnik · cockatrice · harridan · fishwife · brimstone · jade · nag · scold · witch · she-devil

Translations (51)

ro harpie (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · cs harpyje (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ast harpía (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · fr rosse (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · fi harpyija (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · bg ха́рпия (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ru меге́ра (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · nl harpij (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · pl harpia (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · gl harpía (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · cmn 鹰身女妖 (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · it arpia (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · de Harpyie (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · fi harpyija (bird of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae) · fr chipie (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · es arpía (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · gd galla (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · la harpyia (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ko 하르피이아 (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ru сте́рва (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · nl harpij (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · da furie (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · ga airp (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · de Drachen (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · fi harppu (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · hu hárpia (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · eo harpio (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ru га́рпия (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · pt harpia (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · es harpía (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ca harpia (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · ca harpia (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · fr harpie (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · ja ハルピュイア (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · da harpy (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · gl harpía (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · cmn 哈比 (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · hu hárpia (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · pl harpia (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · ru га́рпия (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · he הַרְפִּיָּה (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · es arpía (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · pt harpia (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · pt uiraçu (bird of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae) · ast harpía (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · el άρπυια (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · fr harpie (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · ro scorpie (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · sv harpya (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman) · gd badhbh (obnoxious, shrewish woman) · grc ἅρπυια (fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman)