harridan
/ˈhæɹ.ɪ.dən/
"harridan" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“harridan” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.
Corpus desk
Index EN-harridan · harridan · English
harridan · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | harridan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhæɹ.ɪ.dən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “harridan” in English
Rare enough to double-check
harridan is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈhæɹ.ɪ.dən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for harridan, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Perhaps a modification of French haridelle (“old horse, nag”). The correct English form is harridan, spelled H-A-R-R-I-D-A-N.
Definition
- 1A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how harridan appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Why is that tattling old harridan, Peggy O'Dowd, to make free with my name at her d—d supper-table, and advertise my engagement over the three kingdoms?
Well there was one old lady, and a drunken old harridan she was surely, that paid all her attention to me.
Etymology
Perhaps a modification of French haridelle (“old horse, nag”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.