harpy
Plural: harpies
Noun
- A mythical winged creature, or a shrewish, grasping woman.
- a malicious woman with a fierce temper
- (Greek mythology) vicious winged monster; often depicted as a bird with the head of a woman
- any of various fruit bats of the genus Nyctimene distinguished by nostrils drawn out into diverging tubes
- large black-and-white crested eagle of tropical America
- 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.
- A shrewish woman.
- One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
- The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).
- A large and powerful double-crested, short-winged American eagle (Harpia harpyja).
Examples
- Playing HARPY on a double-word square felt like unleashing a mythological monster on the board.
Origin / Etymology
Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.
Synonyms
Harpia harpyja, harpy bat, harpy eagle, hellcat, tube-nosed bat, tube-nosed fruit bat, vixen, battle axe, bitch, brim, brimstone, cat, crow, dragon, faggot, fishwife, harpy, harridan, jade, nag, nudnik, scold, she-devil, shrew, termagant, virago, witch
Scrabble Score: 13
harpy: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordharpy: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
harpy: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary