Classical Mythology. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body.
(lowercase) a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew.
(lowercase) a greedy, predatory person.
< Latin Harpȳia, singular of Harpȳiae < Greek Hárpȳiai (plural), literally, snatchers, akin to harpázein to snatch away
A harpy is a monster from Greek mythology. A harpy has the head and upper body of a woman and the wings and lower body of a bird. In Greek mythology, harpies were creatures who were sent by Zeus during storms to do his bidding. When a person or an object went missing, the disappearance was often blamed on harpies. The word harpy comes from a Greek word meaning "snatcher." Today, the word harpy is often used as a derogatory term for a very unpleasant woman.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Its radar-killing Harpy can hover over anti-aircraft radar for up to nine hours waiting for them to power up.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 3, 2023
Ms. Sablone, 35, lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, with her girlfriend, Josephine Heilpern, a ceramist, and their dog, Harpy.
From New York Times • Sep. 24, 2021
The Harpy looks like a cross between a missile and a fixed-wing drone, and is fired from the ground into a target area where it can linger for up to nine hours.
From The Verge • Jun. 3, 2021
Harpy birthday: On Dec. 8, wish it on Ann Coulter.
From Washington Post • Jul. 26, 2018
The Sons of the Harpy might have done it, and made it look like dragon’s work to make the city hate me.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
