termagant
pronunciation
How to pronounce termagant in British English:
UK [ˈtɜ:məgənt]
How to pronounce termagant in American English:
US [ˈtɜrməgənt]
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- Noun:
- a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman
Word Origin
- termagant (n.)
- c. 1500, "violent, overbearing person" (especially of women), from Teruagant, Teruagaunt (c. 1200), name of a fictitious Muslim deity appearing in medieval morality plays, from Old French Tervagant, a proper name in Chanson de Roland (c. 1100), of uncertain origin. As an adjective from 1590s.
Example
- 1. A wife with a weak character is worth less than a termagant .
- 2. Only his termagant wife and her friends call him " basil " .
- 3. A termagant wife may , in some respects , be considered a tolerable blessing .
- 4. From even this stronghold the unlucky rip was at length routed by his termagant wife .
- 5. Tigress might have been a termagant , but without her what home could he have ?