molest
Americanverb
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to disturb or annoy by malevolent interference
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to accost or attack, esp with the intention of assaulting sexually
Synonym Usage
See attack.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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molestsimple
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molestssimple
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have molestedperfect
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has molestedperfect
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am molestingprogressive
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are molestingprogressive
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is molestingprogressive
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have been molestingperfect progressive
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has been molestingperfect progressive
Past
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molestedsimple
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had molestedperfect
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was molestingprogressive
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were molestingprogressive
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had been molestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of molest
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English molesten, from Latin molestāre “to irk,” derivative of molestus “irksome”; compare mōlēs “mass, burden, trouble”
Explanation
To molest someone is to annoy or attack them. Although the word was first used to mean "pester," now it is more typically used to refer to criminal abuse. The verb molest can be used to talk about any kind of persistent harassment, but it most commonly describes an unwanted or aggressive sexual attack. To molest someone in this in way is a very serious criminal assault. The word originally meant simply "to cause trouble or grief," and it comes from the Latin word molestare, "to disturb, trouble, or annoy." It wasn't used to mean "attack sexually" until about 1950.
Vocabulary lists containing molest
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:
The city is a bird sanctuary and its code says it is illegal to hunt, wound, molest, injure or kill any bird within its limits.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 10, 2021
Two, Wade Robson testified under oath that Michael Jackson didn’t molest him, raising the question, “Was he lying then, or is he lying now?”
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2019
Around 1993, James and Wade told the authorities that Jackson didn’t molest them; and Wade testified in court on Jackson’s behalf in 2005.
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2019
Evanier makes a strong case that Allen didn’t molest his daughter — he was never prosecuted — but also undermines it somewhat by approaching the topic with an obvious bias against Mia Farrow.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2015
“A big brute like this, he’s worth three times as much. What a bodyguard he will make! No enemy will dare molest you!”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
It is my observation and belief that a grizzly, if physically able, will attack any living thing that molests it or interferes with its routine activities.
From Time Magazine Archive
How lightly he regarded hardship and molestation appears from his verses— Whatever molests or troubles life, When past, as nothing we esteem, And pain, like pleasure, is a dream.
From The Story of the Hymns and Tunes by Theron Brown
My lord Marcus, I fear hurt at no man's hand; also the days of Nero have gone by and Vespasian reigns, who molests us not.
From Pearl-Maiden by Henry Rider Haggard
He sees women do him no harm, and never molests them; a man without a spear is nearly safe from him.
There is first the danger of disturbing the spirit of the head, which may be injured in the process and may revenge itself upon the person who molests him.
From The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
A civil jury in 2022 found that Spacey had not molested Rapp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025
He had been dividing his time between Rome and Sydney after he was exonerated in 2020 of allegations he molested two choirboys while he was archbishop of Melbourne.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
The four-time Oscar-winning director of "Annie Hall" and other comedies has repeatedly denied the accusation that he molested his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992.
From Reuters ● Jun. 28, 2022
Jackson, who died in 2009, was found not guilty in 2005 of charges alleging he had molested a boy.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 20, 2019
“To go back to their homes and families, and they would not be molested, if they did nothing more.”
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Last year, the “Usual Suspects” and “House of Cards” star was found not liable in New York of molesting actor Anthony Rapp in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
Michael Jackson was eventually acquitted on four counts of molesting a minor.
From Fox News ● Jan. 3, 2022
His testimony helped to acquit the King of Pop of molesting Gavin Arvizo, a child cancer survivor.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 10, 2019
By that he meant that Kemp carries none of the baggage of Moore, who was accused of molesting a young woman many years ago, and that Abrams is considerably more liberal than Northam.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2018
“That is none of your business, you waif. Why aren’t you in school? Kindly stop molesting me. Anyway, I have no change.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
