pester

American  

[pes-ter] / ˈpɛs tər /

verb (used with object)

1. 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

2. Obsolete. to overcrowd.

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pester British  

/ ˈpɛstə /

verb

1. (tr) to annoy or nag continually

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Other Word Forms

• pesterer noun
• pesteringly adverb
• pestersome adjective
• unpestered adjective

Etymology

Origin of pester

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 )

Example Sentences

I knew the friends and neighbors residing there wouldn’t pester me about Wonders—or anything else.

From Literature

And I never needed to pester him for stories.

From The Wall Street Journal

The other day, when the Pickled Onion was pestering me about my grammar and vocabulary and bettering myself, she asked me what I aspired to in this life.

From Literature

It’s also inadequately resourced, thanks to a management that refuses to pay nurses a decent wage and, instead, sends its top representative to pester Robby about raising satisfaction scores.

From Salon

Now she endured the indifferent kisses of her grandchildren as if she was being pestered by mosquitoes.

From Literature

Related Words

• annoy
• badger
• bedevil
• hassle
• hector
• hound
• irk
• nag
• tease
• torment