fishwife

American  

[fish-wahyf] / ˈfɪʃˌwaɪf /

noun

plural

fishwives

1. a woman who sells fish.

2. a coarse-mannered, vulgar-tongued woman.

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fishwife British  

/ ˈfɪʃˌwaɪf /

noun

1. a woman who sells fish

2. a coarse scolding woman

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Other Word Forms

• fishwifely adjective

Etymology

Origin of fishwife

First recorded in 1375–1425, fishwife is from the late Middle English word fisshwyf. See fish, wife

Example Sentences

If the history of the hoax is an ancient and labyrinthine city, then Young has explored every alleyway, gossiped with every fishwife, drunk in every bar in town.

From Slate • Nov. 30, 2017

"Big Lil" was a fishwife, and her husband, father and son all worked on the trawlers.

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2017

A Canadian waitress who swears like a fishwife goes on holiday to Boracay.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2016

In Part 2, we turn to the story of glamorous and inaccessible Mathilde—who, we learn, was born in France, as Aurélie, her mother a fishwife in Nantes, her father a stonemason.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 2, 2015

She was growing old ungracefully, and she cried or made scenes like a fishwife.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White