harpy

/ˈhɑɹpi/

//ˈhɑɹpi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"harpy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“harpy” is uncommon English (frequency #52,984 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,984
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-harpy · harpy · English

harpy · rank #52,984 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,984
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH harping

Nearest frequency peer: harping (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “harpy”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “harpy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for harpy
PropertyValue
Headwordharpy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɑɹpi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#52,984
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “harpy” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).harpyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “harping” (#52,983), “Hashimoto” (#52,985), “havelock” (#52,986). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “harpy” is #52,984. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

harpy is uncommon English at frequency #52,984 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈhɑɹpi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for harpy in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie. The correct English form is harpy, spelled H-A-R-P-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    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.
  2. 2
    A shrewish woman.
  3. 3
    One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
  4. 4
    Any of a number of eagle-like birds of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae, especially the species Harpia harpyja.
  5. 5
    The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how harpy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Both table and provisions vanish'd quite, With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.
  2. But her most subtle wiles proved ineffectual in ridding her, even for a moment, of her harpy jailer[…]

Etymology

Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.

This word in other languages

arpía(Español)harpie(Français)Harpyie(Deutsch)harpia(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "harpy"?
"harpy" is spelled H-A-R-P-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɑɹpi/.
What does "harpy" mean?
As a noun, "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.
How do you pronounce "harpy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "harpy" is /ˈhɑɹpi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "harpy"?
Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "harpy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Haney#52,979Gómez#52,973hight#52,995getup#52,962

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list