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
In self-defence we had our boots blacked, for the ambulating bootblack molests no longer the owner of a well-polished pair of boots.
From The Luck of Thirteen Wanderings and Flight through Montenegro and Serbia by Cora Gordon
I will raise the town upon him, if he molests me.
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 5 by Samuel Richardson
By pleasure and pain, I would be understood to signify, whatsoever delights or molests us; whether it arises from the thoughts of our minds, or anything operating on our bodies.
From An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 1 and 2 by John Locke
We are free to roam, sketch, stare at will, and no one notices us; not even an importunate beggar molests the sketcher as she brings out her book in the middle of the street.
From The Roof of France by Matilda Betham-Edwards
“I have other people in the office that believe they probably were molested and that they deserve to have some relief.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2024
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
Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Christine Blasey Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging he’d molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 4, 2018
He had often tipped Sir Ector the wink when a raiding party was on its way from the Marches, and he never molested the knight or his fanning in any way.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
