harry
verb (used with object)
to harass, agitate, or trouble by or as if by repeated attacks; beleaguer.
harry
1 American
[har-ee]
/ ˈhær i /
verb (used with object)
-
harries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
harried,
past participle, past
-
harrying
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
harries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
harried,
past participle, past
-
harrying
present participle
Harry
2
American
[har-ee]
/ ˈhær i /
noun
harry
British
/ ˈhærɪ /
verb
-
(tr) to harass; worry
-
to ravage (a town, etc), esp in war
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
harrysimple
-
harriessimple
-
have harriedperfect
-
has harriedperfect
-
am harryingprogressive
-
are harryingprogressive
-
is harryingprogressive
-
have been harryingperfect progressive
-
has been harryingperfect progressive
Past
-
harriedsimple
-
had harriedperfect
-
was harryingprogressive
-
were harryingprogressive
-
had been harryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of harry
First recorded before 900; Middle English herien, Old English her(g)ian (derivative of here “army”); cognate with German verheeren, Old Norse herja “to harry, lay waste”
Explanation
When one army sends raiding parties into another's territory, they're harrying them. They're not making an all-out attack, they're just trying to bother and distract the other army. Although harry is not a word you hear commonly now, it does frequently occur as harried — which is an adjective used to describe what it feels like to be asked for things from all sides. You might feel harried during final exams, or two days before Christmas, if you haven't yet started your shopping.
Vocabulary lists containing harry
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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:
Kounde cleared off the line and Garcia tipped Fernandez's near-post drive away as Espanyol continued to harry Hansi Flick's side.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
Ukraine has long used domestically produced weapons, such as drones, to harry Russia with strikes that sometimes target Moscow itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2024
Blackthorne is part of a small fleet commissioned by England to find the mysterious and very wealthy island of Japan, and harry any Catholic forces along the way.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
The party has to scrap and harry for every single vote.
From BBC ● May 9, 2021
So the winds drove this wreck over the deep, East Wind and North Wind, then South Wind and West, coursing each in turn to the brutal harry.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson scored a try to keep New Zealand at arm's length, but the All Blacks moved through the gears in the second half.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Harry Truman reportedly liked his Key West winter home so much that he called it the “Little White House” and spent 175 days of his presidency there.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
They brought in experts Tim Pennells and Michael Parker — the latter is currently Harry Styles’ sound engineer — to run the electronic engineering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The firm also mentioned US scientists Harry Gray and Jay Winkler for advancing understanding of how electrons move in proteins.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
“I made sure Harry was treated with respect,” I said quietly.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
In the book, she’s a paper-thin virtual idol, whom Wade stalks and harries for attention.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 28, 2018
He hustles and harries various Chelsea defenders in quick succession as they pass the ball out from the back, no doubt knackering himself out in the process.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 12, 2017
Nelson harries the French fleet in the Mediterranean.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2014
He harries attacking midfielders, breaks up passes, and clogs space.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2014
He harries the ports of the Hollyhocks, And levies on poor Sweetbrier; He drinks the whitest wine of Phlox, And the Rose is his desire.
From Songs from Vagabondia by Richard Hovey
Winfrey was the first TV personality to invite a loyal audience primarily made up of harried women to put themselves and their care first.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Critical to the show’s success is Chris’s producer, Andie, played by Merritt Wever as the striving, harried yet competent organizer of the operation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The Welsh actor told The Times in July that playing the harried mayor was “exhausting” in a way that playing Jarvis wasn’t.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
She was presented with her award by actor Richard E Grant, who played the Spice Girls' harried manager Clifford in the 1997 movie Spice World.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
A wireless set mumbles the names of ministers in a harried, staccato voice—de Gaulle in London, Petain replacing Reynaud.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
PGE would eventually shutter Trojan after decades of regulatory violations, forced shutdowns, construction flaws, costly repairs and constant harrying from antinuclear activist Lloyd Marbet through the state council.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
According to a reporter’s intrepid Freedom of Information Act inquiries, enthusiastic pickleball ambassadors are employing the “USA Pickleball tool kit” and harrying local park departments to elbow out their tennis-and-basketball-playing neighbors.
From Slate ● Dec. 7, 2023
Mainz had defended well up to then, frustrating the visitors with persistent harrying and it looked like Lee Jae-sung’s first-half header was going to be enough to win the game.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
Coming 62 minutes into the contest, it was set up by some typically effective harrying from the visitors near halfway, which resulted in the ball breaking to the 24-year-old midfielder.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2023
"So long as the harrying is done, what does it matter? No priest could do what I mean to, nor what I ask of you. I have a task that only Dagmer Cleftjaw can accomplish."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
