noun
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a loud, violent, and ill-tempered woman; scold; shrew
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archaic a strong, brave, or warlike woman; amazon
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of virago
before 1000; Middle English, Old English < Latin virāgō, equivalent to vir man + -āgō suffix expressing association of some kind, here resemblance
Explanation
A virago is a loud, bossy woman, like your next door neighbor who is always yelling at kids to get off her lawn. You can use the noun virago when you're describing a particularly mean and scolding woman. It's not a compliment to call someone a virago, although its origins are much nobler than the shrewish, screechy character it implies today. Originally, a virago was a brave or heroic woman. The root of virago is the Latin word for "man," vir. In other words, a virago used to mean a woman who seemed manly or virile.
Vocabulary lists containing virago
Twelfth Night
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"Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving
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"American History" by Judith Ortiz Cofer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Virago is still listed as missing on Lloyd's Register of Ships - a marine classification society - which said the vessel was built in Hull in 1871.
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2022
The SS Virago was sailing from Hull to the port of Odessa, then part of the Russian Empire, but never made it out of the English Channel.
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2022
“It’s not too much to claim,” the author Margaret Drabble was quoted as saying in Ms. Goodings’s memoir, “that Virago Modern Classics changed the course of English literary history.”
From New York Times • Oct. 29, 2022
Virago “became such a reliable brand,” Guardian journalist Emma Brockes later wrote, “that you could buy a book on the strength of the green spine alone.”
From Washington Post • Oct. 19, 2022
Some of Elizabeth's work is published in modern editions by Virago and other publishers.
From Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
