harpy means A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of a maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds. It carries an Arena rating of 1453, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, harpy ranks #50 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #83 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #523 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #586 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
harpy is pronounced /ˈhɑɹpi/.
Why “harpy” is a great word
A rapacious mythological creature, part woman and part bird, or by extension, a shrewish or predatory person. From Middle French *harpie*, from Latin *harpyia*, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυια (*hárpuia*, literally "snatcher"), from ἁρπάζω (*harpázō*, "to snatch, seize"). Unlike "shrew" (which suggests domestic nagging) or "vulture" (which implies opportunistic scavenging), "harpy" carries the ancient weight of winged monstrosity and a specifically female-gendered predation. It is the sudden shadow that blots out the sun, the shriek that precedes the snatch, and the cruel intelligence in a creature that is neither fully beast nor human—the ancient recognition that some hungers are human-shaped, and that the most terrible predators need not kill what they consume, only never let it rest.
Etymology
Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.
noun
- A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of a maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds.e.g.“Both table and provisions vanish'd quite,
With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.” — 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
- A shrewish woman.e.g.“But her most subtle wiles proved ineffectual in ridding her, even for a moment, of her harpy jailer[…]” — 1927, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Outlaw of Torn, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
- One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.e.g.“c. 1772, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs. Bunbury
The harpies about me all pocket the pool.”
- Any of a number of eagle-like birds of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae, especially the species Harpia harpyja.
- The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- harpyish 80% match — Resembling a harpy; ravenous or shrewish. vs harpy →
- harpylike 79% match — Resembling a harpy; ravenous or shrewish. vs harpy →
- harridan 58% match — A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one. vs harpy →
- harpago 55% match — Synonym of corvus (“grappling hook in Ancient Roman naval warfare”). vs harpy →
- erinys 54% match — One of the female personifications of vengeance, particularly wrong or immoral deeds on behalf of the victims. vs harpy →
- hellkite 53% match — A person who is cruel and wicked, like a devil. vs harpy →
- grype 53% match — A vulture, Gyps fulvus; the griffin. vs harpy →
- wyvern 52% match — A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail. vs harpy →