shrew

[ shroo ]

/ ʃru /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR shrew ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a woman of violent temper and speech; termagant.

Words nearby shrew

shred, shredded wheat, shredder, shredding, shreveport, shrew, shrew mole, shrewd, shrewdie, shrewish, shrewmouse

Origin of shrew

1200–50; Middle English; special use of shrew²

SYNONYMS FOR shrew

virago, nag, scold.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR shrew ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM shrew

shrew·like, adjective

Definition for shrew (2 of 2)

shrew²

[ shroo ]

/ ʃru /

noun

any of several small, mouselike insectivores of the genus Sorex and related genera, having a long, sharp snout.

Origin of shrew

before 900; Middle English (only in compounds), Old English scrēawa

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for shrew

Read another way, she is a horrible mother, an uptight snob, and a bit of a shrew.
Colm Toibin Describes The Creation Of His Quiet Masterpiece ‘Nora Webster’|Jennie Yabroff|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All the parts for women are awful, and chauvinistic and they have to play a shrew.
The Sex Scenes in ‘The Spectacular Now’ Are Awkward, Honest, and All Too Real|Anna Klassen|August 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Her popularity is up, her guard is down, and her image as a shrew is a relic of the past.
How Hillary Clinton Got Hot After Years of Being Stuck With a Cold Image|Howard Kurtz|April 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Why not rewrite 'The Taming of the Shrew' with a new background?
Charles Frohman: Manager and Man|Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman

You forced him to die alone with your sneering face, while your shrew of a wife counted cards downstairs.
Richard Carvel, Complete|Winston Churchill
A face with more of the shrew in embryo than that of the girl, it is scarcely possible to conceive.
The Works of William Hogarth: In a Series of Engravings|John Trusler
Soric′ident, having teeth like the shrew; Sor′icine, pertaining to the shrew-mouse; Sor′icoid, soricine.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
The kulu in question was more of a coquette than she was of a shrew.
Gorillas & Chimpanzees|R. L. Garner

British Dictionary definitions for shrew

shrew

/ (ʃruː) /

noun

Also called: shrewmouse any small mouse-like long-snouted mammal, such as Sorex araneus (common shrew), of the family Soricidae: order Insectivora (insectivores)See also water shrew Related adjective: soricine

a bad-tempered or mean-spirited woman

Word Origin for shrew

Old English scrēawa; related to Old High German scrawaz dwarf, Icelandic skröggr old man, Norwegian skrugg dwarf

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

shrew

noun

Words related to shrew

Words nearby shrew

Origin of shrew

SYNONYMS FOR shrew

OTHER WORDS FROM shrew

Definition for shrew (2 of 2)

noun

Origin of shrew

Examples from the Web for shrew

British Dictionary definitions for shrew

noun

Word Origin for shrew