Meaning & use
termagant
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabledisapprovingoffensive
A woman seen as bad-tempered, bossy and quick to scold, used as a harsh insult.
Grammar: Countable and almost always about a woman: a termagant, two termagants.
Patterns
- a termagant of a something
In the old comedy, the hero is bullied by his termagant of a wife.
The novelist described the landlady as a termagant who ruled the boarding house.
Calling someone a termagant today would sound both dated and insulting.
Word forms
| plural | termagants |
|---|
Common combinations
- a fearsome termagant
- The fearsome termagant in the story terrified the servants.
- shrewish termagant
- The play's shrewish termagant was finally tamed.
- termagant wife
- He complained of his termagant wife in every letter.
- play the termagant
- She refused to play the termagant, even when provoked.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shrew
- Shrew is the nearest match, also dated and insulting, but a bit less forceful than termagant, which suggests a domineering bully.
- harridan
- Harridan stresses an older, fierce and bullying woman, while termagant focuses on the scolding temper.
- virago
- Virago is rarer and can mean a strong, loud woman without always being unkind.
- scold
- Scold is a plainer, older word for someone who nags and criticizes constantly.
Word family
- termagant adjective
- bad-tempered and overbearing, rare and literary
- shrewish adjective
- scolding and bad-tempered, a related insult
Commonly confused: termagant or termite?
termagant vs termite
A termite is a wood-eating insect, and it is unrelated to termagant despite the similar start.
Practice
A modern speaker is most likely to avoid calling a colleague a termagant because the word is ____.
Choose one answer.
Termagant is an old-fashioned insult aimed at women. It is not neutral, affectionate or a legal term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “termagant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.