virago

[ vi-rah-goh, -rey- ]
See synonyms for virago on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural vi·ra·goes, vi·ra·gos.
  1. a loud-voiced, ill-tempered, scolding woman; shrew.

  2. Archaic. a woman of strength or spirit.

Origin of virago

1
before 1000; Middle English, Old English <Latin virāgō, equivalent to vir man + -āgō suffix expressing association of some kind, here resemblance

Other words for virago

Words Nearby virago

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use virago in a sentence

  • Miser Farnham put out a lean hand and gripped the virago's wrist so tightly that she screamed with pain.

    They Looked and Loved | Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
  • "Shut up, and mind yore own business," answered the virago, swiftly turning the barrel of her weapon upon me.

    The Way of a Man | Emerson Hough
  • But it may have touched him that at that moment he was less than his companion and his virago wife.

  • Amazon, am′az-on, n. one of a fabled nation of female warriors: a masculine woman: a virago.

  • If the messenger whom he had seen were really Catherine Seyton, what a masculine virago and termagant must she be!

    The Abbot | Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for virago

virago

/ (vɪˈrɑːɡəʊ) /


nounplural -goes or -gos
  1. a loud, violent, and ill-tempered woman; scold; shrew

  2. archaic a strong, brave, or warlike woman; amazon

Origin of virago

1
Old English, from Latin: a manlike maiden, from vir a man

Derived forms of virago

  • viraginous (vɪˈrædʒɪnəs), adjective
  • virago-like, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012