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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Examples of harridan in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
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
Surely Socrates, married to that many-years-younger harridan Xanthippe, would be in line for a Nobel.
—Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 11 May 2018
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
Surely Socrates, married to that many-years-younger harridan Xanthippe, would be in line for a Nobel.
—Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 11 May 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harridan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Harridan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harridan. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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