"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 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 "hath" is a hypercorrection based on false chronological assumption and perception that the saying is ancient, dating to at least the grammar of Early Modern English (which the time of writing would be at the end of); this is also reinforced by the phrase often being falsely attributed to Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb}} hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
  1. A woman will make someone suffer if they reject her.
    Sense id: en-hell_hath_no_fury_like_a_woman_scorned-en-proverb-BlD9fPBE Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Emotions

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_text": "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 \"hath\" is a hypercorrection based on false chronological assumption and perception that the saying is ancient, dating to at least the grammar of Early Modern English (which the time of writing would be at the end of); this is also reinforced by the phrase often being falsely attributed to Shakespeare or the King James Bible.",
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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.",
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      "ipa": "/hɛl hæθ nəʊ ˈfjʊəɹi laɪk ə ˈwʊmən skɔːnd/",
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    },
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      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
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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 2025-06-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (3dadd05 and f1c2b61). 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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