harper
noun
a person who plays the harp.
harper
1 American
[hahr-per]
/ ˈhɑr pər /
Harper
2
American
[hahr-per]
/ ˈhɑr pər /
noun
-
James, 1795–1869, and his brothers John, 1797–1875, (Joseph) Wesley, 1801–70, and Fletcher, 1806–77, U.S. printers and publishers.
-
a male or female given name.
Harper
British
/ ˈhɑːpə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of harper
before 900; Middle English; Old English hearpere. See harp, -er 1
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.
See Examples For:
When they became international stars in the 1970s, the group hired a harper named Derek Bell to play the old O’Carolan tunes, which as a result became part of every Irish band’s repertoire.
From Washington Post ● May 12, 2016
Mead has been spilled on the oak and the king's strong-thewed companions, none over 30, sprawl, snore or listen intently to the end of a long-drawn saga sung by Maccus, the harper.
From Time Magazine Archive
The former harper crept out into the darkness, unnoticed by the rest.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
She was the lovely, golden-haired harper who had tried for her talent and failed.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Meanwhile the harper in the great room sang a song.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
PC Harper's widow, Lissie Harper, had described the prospect of their sentences being reduced as "deplorable".
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Jonathan Levine, whose credits include “Warm Bodies” and “Long Shot,” is directing, and Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper are producing along with Cruise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
In 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis, he was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada by a conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Mr. Harper is a professor at the University of Oklahoma and the author of “The Last Animal: Human History and the Fate of Life on Earth from the Ice Age to the Sixth Extinction.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I believe Mr. Lemoncello is inviting us to play a geocaching game,” said Angus Harper.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
When gloved harpers set those overhead strings vibrating, the Kennedy Center architecture will be reflected in the tone.
From Washington Post ● May 12, 2016
"Your father—" "—will thank me, when I hand him his kingdom. I mean to do a deed that the harpers will sing of for a thousand years."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Bards and harpers and dancers wandered among the cottages.
From Irish Nationality by Alice Stopford Green
Of this we have a very beautiful representation, where the Evangelist saw a great multitude clothed in white, and following the Lamb of God; and “he heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.”
From True Christianity by Johann Arndt
As the summer winds had howled up the Notch, lashing the leafy branches of the birches and beeches, so now the winter winds howled down, harpers that struck dismal notes from the bare trees.
From King Spruce, A Novel by Holman Day
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.
