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
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
One couple, trustees in his church, suggested Paden had been coerced into confessing and didn’t molest anyone.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 7, 2015
The strike was to be orderly and peaceful: signs posted in five languages reminded strikers to “Obey the union’s rules to molest no person or property, and abide strictly by the laws of the country.”
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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
The infernal hurricane that never rests carries along the spirits in its rapine; whirling and smiting it molests them.
From Divine Comedy, Norton's Translation, Hell by Charles Eliot Norton
I must watch over you to see that no one molests you.
From A Bride of the Plains by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
Kashmir is truly and indeed the paradise of birds, for there no man molests them, and no schoolboy collects eggs, and the result is a fascinating fearlessness, the result of perpetual peace and plenty.
From A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil by T. R. Swinburne
Still I hunt in my father's woods; kill my father's deer; and fish in my father's lakes; since no one molests me.
From The Star-Chamber, Volume 1 An Historical Romance by William Harrison Ainsworth
A civil jury in 2022 found that Spacey had not molested Rapp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025
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
Soon-Yi Previn, the wife of Woody Allen, has spoken publicly for the first time in decades about her early life with adopted mother Mia Farrow, and allegations that Allen molested his daughter Dylan Farrow.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2018
"Bronn, take as many men as you need and see that the water wagons are not molested."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Considering the sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic church and the Southern Baptists, I find it strange that so many Christians are concerned about Freemasons and Shriners and "the Illuminati" molesting their children.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2023
Gregory Daniel Beaumarchais, 43, has been charged with one misdemeanor of annoying or molesting a victim believed to be under 18.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022
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
“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.
