pester

A bother or nuisance.

Noun

  1. A bother or nuisance.
    • By now I presumed I had become a real pester. - 2017, Samuel J. Archer, Will There Be Another Lincoln, Nixon, Johnson or Kennedy?, page 15:

Origin

In the senses of “overcrowd (a place)” and “impede (a person)”: from Middle French and Old French empestrer (“encumber”), influenced by English pest. The modern sense is an extension of the sense “infest”. Comparable to English construction pest + -er (used to form frequentative verbs).

Forms

pesters

Verb

  1. To bother, harass, or annoy persistently.
    • He pestered me with questions.
    • She pestered him to help her.

    Synonyms: badger beleaguer bug hound plague

  2. To crowd together thickly.
    • That which eſpecialleſt nouriſht the moſt prime pleaſure in me, was after a ſtorme when they were driuen inſwarmes, and lay close peſtred together as thicke as they could packe; the next day following, if it were faire,...

    Synonyms: cattle up crowd flock huddle throng

Forms

pesters pestering pestered

Synonyms

badger bait bedevil beleaguer persecute dog bug devil beset chevy give someone grief harass harry hound pester pick at plague vex

Antonyms

get out of someone's ear get out of someone's face get up off give someone a break leave alone let alone lay off tolerate

Hypernyms

annoy

Hyponyms

bepester cyberharass heckle overharass sexually harass troll

Related

pest pick on

Derived

bepester pesterable pesterer pesteringly pesterment pesterous pester power pestersome pestery unpestered