harridan

(hăr'ĭ-dn)
n.
A woman regarded as scolding and vicious.

[Possibly from French haridelle, gaunt woman, old horse, nag.]

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Time magazine columnist Joe Klein hurled the word harridan into our top alt-clicks list with his defense of Hillary Clinton: "she is not even vaguely the left-wing harridan portrayed by the Precambrian right." He nevertheless opined in no uncertain terms that she should not run in the next presidential election.

Link: Hillary in 2008? No Way!

Posted May 9, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

an ill-tempered scolding woman: shrew

For a list of words related to harridan, see:

• Behavior or Personality
• Sexuality or Gender

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See words rhyming with "harridan."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Harridan.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - gammel hejre, furie

Nederlands (Dutch)
afgebeuld paard, ouwe tang

Français (French)
n. - mégère

Deutsch (German)
n. - zänkisches altes Weib

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μέγαιρα, στρίγκλα, γριά

Italiano (Italian)
strega

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mulher (f) velha sombria

Русский (Russian)
старая карга

Español (Spanish)
n. - bruja

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - gammal häxa, ragata

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
丑老太婆, 魔女, 巫婆

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 醜老太婆, 魔女, 巫婆

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 심술 궂은 노파, 마귀할멈

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 醜い老婆, 意地悪ばばあ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) عجوز مشاكسه محبه للخصام‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮זקנה זעפנית, מכשפה‬

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