noun
Meaning 1
Harassment; pestering.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
harass
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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General-American, Received-Pronunciation: hərăsʹ
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General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /həˈɹæs/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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dated: hăʹrəs
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dated: /ˈhæɹəs/
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rhymes with -æs
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rhymes with -æɹəs
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CMU ARPABET: HH ER0 AE1 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: beleaguer, beset, chevy, harry, molest, plague, badger, bait, bedevil, persecute, dog, besiege, bug, devil, give someone grief, harass, hound, pester, pick at, vex
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: bother, hassle, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, irk, irritate, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, trouble, try one's patience, vex, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, chap someone's hide, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off
verb
Meaning 3
To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
To persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: specifically, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: beleaguer, beset, chevy, harry, molest, plague, badger, bait, bedevil, persecute, dog, besiege, bug, devil, give someone grief, harass, hound, pester, pick at, vex
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: bother, hassle, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, irk, irritate, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, trouble, try one's patience, vex, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, chap someone's hide, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off
verb
Meaning 4
To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: afflict, distress, lacerate, aggrieve, plague, atray, cag, engrieve, grame, harass, harrow, harry, torment, trouble, vex, rend, wring
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: harry
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
exhaust by attacking repeatedly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- harass the enemy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: attack, aggress
verb
Meaning 8
annoy continually or chronically
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked
- This man harasses his female co-workers
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at, irritate, rile, nark, nettle, gravel, vex, chafe, devil
Narrower terms: needle, goad, torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate, haze
History
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle French, Old French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out; to harry, torment, vex”) (modern French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out”)), possibly from Old French harer (“to set a dog on”), from Frankish *hara (“here, hither”) (a command for a dog to attack), from Proto-Germanic *hē2r (“here, in this place”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; this”) + *ís (“the (person or thing just named)”) + *-r. The noun is derived from the verb.
Across languages
Translations
76 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Asturian: escorrexar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Asturian: acorviar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Asturian: atortorar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Asturian: amocar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Bengali: জ্বালাতন করা (jalaton kora) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Bengali: সাতানো (satano) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Bulgarian: безпокоя́ (bezpokojá) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Bulgarian: дразня (draznja) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Catalan: fastiguejar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Catalan: molestar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Catalan: vexar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Chinese Mandarin: 騷擾 /骚扰 (sāorǎo) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Dutch: pesten — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Esperanto: turmentadi — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Finnish: hätyyttää — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Finnish: kiusata — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- French: harceler — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- German: belästigen — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Italian: importunare — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Italian: infastidire — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Italian: molestare — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Italian: tormentare — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Italian: vessare — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Jamaican Creole: badda badda — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Latin: vexō — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Māori: hawene — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Māori: whakakūrakuraku — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Māori: whakangari — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Māori: whakatīwheta — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Norwegian Bokmål: harselere — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Polish: dręczyć — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Polish: gnębić — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Polish: nękać — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Polish: prześladować — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Portuguese: assediar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Portuguese: incomodar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Portuguese: molestar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Romanian: hărțui — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Russian: беспоко́ить (bespokóitʹ) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Russian: досажда́ть (dosaždátʹ) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Sanskrit: बाधति (bādhati) — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Scottish Gaelic: sàraich — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Spanish: acosar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Spanish: hostigar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Spanish: asicar — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Walloon: peler — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Walloon: soyî — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Walloon: tourmeter — to annoy (someone) frequently or systematically — see also pester
- Catalan: assetjar — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Esperanto: molestadi — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Esperanto: ĉagrenadi — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Finnish: ahdistella — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Finnish: häiritä — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- French: harceler — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Māori: whakatīwhetawheta — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Māori: whakatīwheta — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Norwegian Bokmål: harselere — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Spanish: acosar — to persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period
- Catalan: assetjar — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Dutch: kwellen — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Dutch: vervolgen — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Esperanto: troŝarĝi — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Finnish: vainota — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- French: harceler — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- German: quälen — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- German: verfolgen — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Italian: assillare — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Italian: incalzare — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Italian: tartassare — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Scottish Gaelic: sàraich — to put excessive burdens upon (someone)
- Catalan: assetjar — to trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks
- Finnish: ahdistella — to trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks
- Finnish: häiritä — to trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks
- Finnish: vainota — to trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks
- Spanish: acosar — to trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks
- Spanish: asediar — to trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks