harassment
Americannoun
-
harassments
plural
-
an act or instance of harassing; torment, vexation, or intimidation.
daily harassment by bullies at school;
the harassments of daily life.
-
the condition or fact of being harassed.
the stress of harassment and discrimination.
Pronunciation
See harass.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of harassment
Explanation
If someone is abusing, insulting, or otherwise harming you on a regular basis, it's called harassment. Cruel and usually really annoying, harassment is also illegal in some cases. Harassment is a word that describes any kind of ongoing torment. At school, harassment is often known as bullying. In the workplace, employees need to be careful about sexual harassment. Harassment involves persistent attacks or abuse, and can range from shouting racial slurs to crank calling your ex-boyfriend every night at 3am. Even teasing your kid sister about her braces could be considered harassment.
Vocabulary lists containing harassment
Word Generation Weekly - Series 3
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Articles on Bullying
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Lincoln's Last Days
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He himself is out on probation for a harassment charge he garnered last year in a Steak ’n Shake, a business he is now permanently banned from entering.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
It recalled that the code contains "specific protections relating to privacy, harassment" including "cases involving personal grief and shock".
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Though the Hewlett-Packard board found Hurd didn’t violate the company’s policy regarding sexual harassment, it determined he had submitted inaccurate expense reports to conceal the relationship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
A defendant testing the plaintiff’s claims isn’t harassment.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
From August to December 1942, just after the issue of Stalin’s Order 227, the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment was based in the Caucasus Mountains, for their harassment missions in their open-cockpit Po-2 planes.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Both have denounced harassments by China towards Philippine vessels conducting the resupply mission.
From Reuters ● Nov. 16, 2023
Japan’s Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory on Sunday urging Japanese citizens to use extra caution in China, citing an escalation of harassments and violent protests over the discharge of the wastewater.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
Between May and November 2022, she added, the number of reported harassments jumped to 14, with no assaults reported.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 5, 2023
"Comments with personally identifiable information, harassments, or other violations will be removed."
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2021
Under the circumstances, his debts determined his action, and to escape harassments he before long passed over into France and settled in Paris.
From Types of Naval Officers Drawn from the History of the British Navy by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
