verb
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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
Related Words
See attack.
Other Word Forms
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.
"Molest us not, son," said one of them to the sentry.
From Rienzi, Last of the Roman Tribunes by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
No; she will never weep the tears Which thou would'st Virtue's deign to call; Nor will they, in remoter years, Molest her Father's heart at all.
From The Works of Lord Byron: Letters and Journals. Vol. 2 by Prothero, Rowland E. (Rowland Edmund), Baron Ernle
Molest is rather a hard word, Mr. Ormsby.
From The Scarlet Feather by Grefé, Will
But thee may no such boisterous visitants Molest; may gentle breezes fan thy brow; And neither cloud conceal, nor misty air Bedim, the grand terraqueous spectacle, 10 From centre to circumference, unveiled!
From The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume IV (of 8) by Wordsworth, William
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bow'r, Molest her ancient solitary reign.
From Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library by Burt, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth)
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.
