Word.ws English Dictionary

Xanthippe

Syllables: Xan·thip·pe/zænˈθɪpi/

Xanthippe noun: an ill-tempered woman.

Noun

Xanthippe (plural Xanthippes)

  1. (dated, derogatory, literary) An ill-tempered woman.
    • Be ſhe as foule as was Florentius Loue, / As old as Sibell, and as curſt and ſhrow'd / As Socrates Zentippe, or a worſe: / She moues me not, or not remoues at leaſt / Affections edge in me.[c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • RICHARD HOOKER, that rare and admirable Theologiſt, [...] married a clowniſh ſilly Woman and withal a meer Xantippe, [...]1691, [Anthony Wood], “RICHARD HOOKER”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the...

Xanthippe meaning in Tamil

Xanthippe in Tamil

அடங்காப் பிடாரியான மனைவி, கொடூரமான பெண்

Synonyms of Xanthippe

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All synonyms of Xanthippe

Forms of Xanthippe

pluralXanthippes
alternative formXantippe

Origin of Xanthippe

Borrowed from Latin Xanthippē or its etymon Ancient Greek Ξανθίππη (Xanthíppē), the name of Socrates’ wife, from ξανθός (xanthós, “blond; golden, yellow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱas- (“blond; grey; white”)) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ- (“horse; swift (?)”)). She is described as shrewish in Xenophon’s Symposium, though the same work states that Socrates chose her precisely because of her argumentative spirit. In Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Phaedo by Plato she is depicted as a devoted wife and mother.

Words formed from Xanthippe

Words that rhyme with Xanthippe

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Questions about Xanthippe

What does Xanthippe mean?
Xanthippe means an ill-tempered woman.
What is Xanthippe in Tamil?
Xanthippe in Tamil is அடங்காப் பிடாரியான மனைவி, கொடூரமான பெண். See Xanthippe meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is Xanthippe?
Xanthippe is a noun.
How do you pronounce Xanthippe?
Xanthippe is pronounced /zænˈθɪpi/ (UK).
What is the plural of Xanthippe?
The plural of Xanthippe is Xanthippes.

Words near Xanthippe in the dictionary

  1. xanthinurias
  2. xanthinuric
  3. xanthiol
  4. xanthione
  5. xanthiosite
  6. Xanthippe
  7. Xanthippes
  8. Xanthippic
  9. xanthism
  10. xanthitane
  11. xanthite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Xanthippe (page history and authors); xanthippe (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-Xanthippe.wav.

Cite this entry: “Xanthippe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/xanthippe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.