"hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" meaning in English

See hell hath no fury like a woman scorned in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

IPA: /hɛl hæθ nəʊ ˈfjʊəɹi laɪk ə ˈwʊmən skɔːnd/ [UK], /hɛl hæθ noʊ ˈfjʊɹi laɪk ə ˈwʊmən skɔɹnd/ [US] Audio: En-us-hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.oga [US] Forms: hell has no fury like a woman scorned [alternative]
Etymology: First written as "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd." in the 1697 play The Mourning Bride (Act III Scene 2) by William Congreve. The modern form with 'hath' instead of 'has' is not Congreve's wording; the phrase is often falsely attributed to Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Head templates: {{en-head|proverb|head=~scorn􂀿ed􂁀}} hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
  1. A woman who has been romantically rejected, betrayed, or otherwise deeply wronged will react with great anger or vindictiveness.
    Sense id: en-hell_hath_no_fury_like_a_woman_scorned-en-proverb-9q3QIJAm Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Emotions, Sexism

Alternative forms

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          "ref": "1988 February 7, Michael Bronski, “\"Medea,\" My Dear”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 11:",
          "text": "Rather than presenting Medea as the epitome of the \"hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...,\" this Medea shows her not so much as a woman bent upon revenge, but as someone who has been betrayed and must for her own sense of preservation must right the wrongs done to her.",
          "type": "quotation"
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}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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