verb
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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
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.
“Tiger With Cubs” depicts a tigress nursing her young under pine trees as magpies heckle them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025
Last year, Dean found himself the victim of what he has described as "the most brutal heckle ever".
From BBC • Feb. 14, 2025
After the press conference ended, they continued to follow and heckle De Niro.
From Salon • May 29, 2024
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
When he told them to leave the pitch, they did so quite cheerfully and went to sit in the stands to heckle everyone else.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
