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Vixen vs Harpy - What's the difference?

vixen | harpy |

Harpy is a synonym of vixen.



As nouns the difference between vixen and harpy

is that vixen is a female fox while harpy is a fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture.

vixen

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A female fox.
  • A malicious, quarrelsome or temperamental woman.
  • * 1859: , . Adam Bede : page 54. Köln: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 1999:
    • . . . and if Solomon was as wise as he is reputed to be, I feel sure that when he compared a contentious woman to a contiunal dropping on a very rainy day, he had not a vixen in his eye–a fury with long nails, acrid and selfish.
  • (colloquial) A racy or salacious woman.

    • Synonyms

    * (female fox) female fox * bitch, virago, she-devil, hellcat * (racy or salacious woman) fox, sex kitten, nymphomaniac, vamp

    Hypernyms

    * (female fox) fox

    harpy

    English

    (wikipedia harpy)

    Noun

    (harpies)
  • A fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture.
  • * Milton
    • Both table and provisions vanished quite,
    With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.
  • A shrewish woman.
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1927 , year_published=2008 , edition=HTML , editor= , author=Edgar Rice Burrows , title=The Outlaw of Torn , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=But her most subtle wiles proved ineffectual in ridding her, even for a moment, of her harpy jailer }}
  • One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
  • * Goldsmith
    • The harpies about all pocket the pool.
  • The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus ).
  • A large and powerful double-crested, short-winged American eagle (Thrasaetus harpyia ).

    • Derived terms

    * harpy bat * harpy fly

    See also

    * harridan