shrew
13
9.1
- noun
- /ʃruː/
- Slur
:
arpía
- She was often called a shrew because of her constant complaining about everything.
- Taming of the shrew
I saw Tulisa taming the Shrew, but I didn't make it to the end.
- I saw Tulisa taming the Shrew, but I didn't make it to the end.
Examples
-
Let me tell you about the shrew I married.
-
Many consider her a shrew due to her harsh words and scolding attitude.
-
I never meant to be a shrew to thee.
-
"Then you admit I am a shrew."
Fiction book (1993) -
In comparison, her daughter was like a shrew.
Fiction book (1994) -
A shrew of a mother and a drafty old house.
Fiction book (1993) -
Because you hate children, and men find you to be a heartless shrew?
-
I am a judgmental shrew, but usually I keep it under wraps.
Fiction book (2000) -
In all other matters, she is sweet-tempered, but the merest mention of matrimony turns her into a shrew.
Fiction book (1993) -
Look, when you were a kid, you were pretty and you were smart as a whip, but you're coming across as this bitter, unlikable shrew that I don't even recognize.
Synonyms
2
9.9
An old word for a person, often a woman, who always complains and finds fault
Compounds
- UK
A small mouse-like mammal with a pointed nose and thick fur found in Europe and northern Asia
- Specialized
A small mole with a long pointed snout that lives underground and eats insects
A small mammal with dense fur that lives in streams and hunts aquatic insects
A small burrowing animal from eastern Asia that looks like a shrew and a mole
A small animal like a mouse that lives near fresh water in Europe and eats insects
- US
A very small brown mammal like a mouse that lives in grassy areas in the eastern United States
- US
A small, common shrew with a dark head and back that lives in wet places in North America
A small mammal that lives in and near water in southern Europe and northwest Africa
A small brown mammal from Malaysia with a bare tail and long stiff hairs at the tip
How Bad-Tempered
Surface Forms
Etymology
Shrew as an insult comes from old English words for an evil spirit or a biting creature, and people long ago compared a sharp-tongued person to that small, fierce animal; that's why a 'shrew' today means a woman who is 'bad-tempered' or always 'scolding'.