Sekirov Dictionary

termagant

UK /ˈtɜːməɡ(ə)nt/US /ˈtɜɹməɡənt/

adjective 2
noun 2
forms 3

adjective2

•
(offensive) Of a woman, her behaviour, etc.: censorious, nagging, and quarrelsome; scolding, shrewish.
- [F]earing his Father should knovv of it, and his VVife, vvho is a Termagant Lady: but vvhen he finds the Coast is clear, and his late ruffling knovvn to none but you, he vvill be drunk vvith joy. — 1667
•
(no longer used) Having the temperament of a termagant; bad-tempered, brawling, boisterous, turbulent.
- [R]idiculous senseles sentences, finicall, flaunting phrases, and termagant inkhorne tearmes throughout his booke, […] — 1596

noun2

•
(disapproving) A censorious, nagging, and quarrelsome woman; a scold, a shrew.
- They [authors] would not suffer the stout'st Dame, / To swear by Hercules his Name, / Make feeble Ladies, in their Works, / To fight like Termagants and Turks; […] — 1662
•
(no longer used) A brawling, boisterous, and turbulent person or thing.
- Yonder is Sarah Marlborough's palace, just as it stood when that termagant occupied it. — 1861

forms

termagants · more termagant · most termagant

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