An insulting old word for a woman who is loud, fierce, and always arguing — a woman other people (usually men) found frightening to deal with. Calling someone a virago is not describing her; it is attacking her, and it carries the assumption that a woman being forceful is itself a fault. English has a long shelf of these words — shrew, harridan, termagant — and no matching set for men. That absence is the point, and it is why the word now sounds not just rude but dated and unfair. There is a second, older meaning that runs the other way. In Latin, virago meant a heroic, warlike woman — strong like a warrior, meant as praise. That sense survives in literature and in history writing, where a queen who led armies might be called a virago admiringly. So the word carries two opposite tones depending on the century you are reading. You will meet it in older novels rather than in speech. Do not use it about a real person. If you need a modern word for someone who argues fiercely, describe the behaviour instead: she was furious, she shouted everyone down, she is very hard to argue with.

潑婦、悍婦 (帶侮辱、過時的講法)；古義則指女中豪傑、女戰士。現在讀到多半是在老小說裡，別拿來說真人。