heckle
Americanverb
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to interrupt (a public speaker, performer, etc) by comments, questions, or taunts
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Also: hackle, hatchel. (tr) to comb (hemp or flax)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hecklesimple
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hecklessimple
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have heckledperfect
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has heckledperfect
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am hecklingprogressive
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are hecklingprogressive
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is hecklingprogressive
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have been hecklingperfect progressive
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has been hecklingperfect progressive
Past
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heckledsimple
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had heckledperfect
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was hecklingprogressive
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were hecklingprogressive
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had been hecklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of heckle
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English hekelen, variant of hechelen “to comb flax”; akin to hackle 1, hatchel
Explanation
To heckle is to challenge or harass someone. At a sporting event, fans sometimes heckle the opposing team, but it’s not very respectable behavior. One of the many challenges of being a stand-up comedian is dealing with people harassing you from the audience. Those people are heckling. While heckling in a comedy club is not all that unusual, it’s still rude. If you choose to heckle someone, whether they are a comic or anyone else, be prepared to be heckled back — or worse.
Vocabulary lists containing heckle
One of Us Is Lying
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Yada Yada Yada
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Monday's Not Coming
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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:
Some blame the rising price of tickets, saying theatergoers feel entitled to misbehave in the same way sports fans feel the price of admission buys them the right to heckle players.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Even back in 2022, when Boebert and Greene presented as a Karen power duo out to heckle President Joe Biden, I was skeptical that their alliance would last long.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2023
"If someone heckles me, I can heckle them back... always politely though."
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2023
Now Israel's minister for police, Itamar Ben-Gvir was on hand to keep order as some 30,000 people took part in the annual event that he used to heckle as an "abomination".
From Reuters ● Jun. 1, 2023
I used to heckle her about the help problem, but I learned that was not necessarily wise.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
As has become customary, the hearing was interrupted by protesters bursting into heckles; Rubio quipped that at least he gets bilingual demonstrators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2025
"If someone heckles me, I can heckle them back... always politely though."
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2023
Of course, hecklers could submit their heckles via email or interview but not heckle directly at our duly elected president.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2023
The reason, he said, is that he would expect an order from a group that cheers for the visitor and heckles the home team would be rejected.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
When splintered, there is inner vortex which spirals and heckles mercilessly, relentlessly.
From Rhyme and Reason; a Compilation of Verses, Rhymes and Senses by Dom
After getting heckled outside by protesters, Xi slipped inside the White House for a state dinner where some 30 to 40 guests asked for photographs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
He once heckled Anne Sexton at a poetry reading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was heckled at a World War II memorial event by protesters angry about Tokyo's further shift away from its decades-long pacifist stance, television footage showed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
A woman heckled the mayor just as he was about to speak and accused city leadership of ignoring concerns of Muslim and Palestinian communities.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
Not long before Henrietta’s first exam, TeLinde presented his argument about carcinoma in situ to a major meeting of pathologists in Washington, D.C., and the audience heckled him off the stage.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
In an age of seemingly nonstop spam, that act of rebellion can feel deeply satisfying, like heckling a telemarketer who interrupted dinner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
I was not heckling or mocking, but what followed was immediate — and instructive.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2025
One federal agent saw the patrollers, turned up his music, and began heckling the group as he rode in.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2025
Sharma says heckling of women for their clothing is unheard of in Rishikesh, a city in the Himalayan foothills on the banks of Ganges river.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025
Amid the heckling and the jarring noise of passing trains, I tried to listen to what Arthur Ashe was saying through a megaphone.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
