View synonyms for pester

pester

[ pes-ter ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

to bother persistently with petty annoyances; trouble:
Don't pester me with your trivial problems.
Synonyms: hector, harry, badger, plague, provoke, irritate, disturb, tease, vex, annoy
Antonyms: entertain, delight
Obsolete. to overcrowd.

pester

/ ˈpɛstə /

verb

tr to annoy or nag continually

Discover More

Derived Forms

ˈpesterer, noun
ˈpesteringly, adverb

Discover More

Other Words From

pester·er noun
pester·ing·ly adverb
pester·some adjective
un·pestered adjective

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of pester¹

1530–40; perhaps aphetic variant of empester, impester to tangle, encumber (though pester is found earlier than these 2 words) < Middle French empestrer to hobble, entangle < Vulgar Latin *impāstōriāre to hobble, equivalent to im- im- ¹ + pāstōri ( a ) a hobble, noun use of Latin pāstōrius of a herdsman or shepherd + -āre infinitive suffix ( pastor ); aphetic form apparently reinforced by pest ( -er ⁶ )

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of pester¹

C16: from Old French empestrer to hobble (a horse), from Vulgar Latin impāstōriāre (unattested) to use a hobble, from pāstōria (unattested) a hobble, from Latin pāstōrius relating to a herdsman, from pastor herdsman

Discover More

Example Sentences

It was to ensure he was comfortable with the task required to impress NFL teams that poke, prod and pester players during the evaluation process.

From Los Angeles Times

Surely only Williams pestered the woman about it afterwards.

From Salon

Children would build grottos from the shells and pester passers-by for pennies for their efforts, with cries of "Pray remember the grotto!"

From Salon

But eventually a friend encouraged her to "pester" her GP for a scan.

From BBC

The perception from many is that pestering issues aren’t being addressed.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

Pestalozzi pester power

Browse