Harridan

"'How had she ended up like this, imprisoned in the role of harridan?' Ms. Heller writes of Audrey. 'Once upon a time, her brash manner had been a mere posture — a convenient and amusing way for an insecure teenage bride, newly arrived in America, to disguise her crippling shyness. People had actually enjoyed her vituperation back then, encouraged it and celebrated it. She had carved out a minor distinction for herself as a ‘character’: the cute little English girl with the chutzpah and the longshoreman’s mouth.'"
["Fighting Demons From Left and Right" by Michiko Katutani, NY Times, March 2, 2009 *]

NOUN: A woman regarded as scolding and vicious.
ETYMOLOGY: Possibly from French haridelle, gaunt woman, old horse, nag.
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