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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

harass.

To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/həˈɹæs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈhæɹəs/dated

  1. To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.

    transitive

  2. 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.

    specifically · transitive

  3. To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties.

    transitive
    To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them.

  4. To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks.

    transitive

  5. Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts.

    obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/həˈɹæs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈhæɹəs/dated

  1. Harassment; pestering.

    archaic · transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.