pesky
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- peskily adverb
- peskiness noun
Etymology
Origin of pesky
1765–75; irregular formation from pest ( def. ) + -y 1 ( def. )
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.
I pause on the porch, allowing the heat to soak into my skin, but a handful of pesky mosquitos start buzzing around me.
From Literature
“What clever younglings. You made it just in time to find that pesky door,” she said.
From Literature
Those memorable segments demonstrated how the desk-and-sofa format could be a tool in the politician’s arsenal for shaping public opinion away from the pesky probing of journalists.
From Los Angeles Times
It’s difficult enough without fending off the opinions of pesky, if well-meaning, relatives.
From MarketWatch
But real estate insiders say the property is badly in need of remodeling, with aging office spaces, tiny windows, fickle elevators and a pesky rodent population among its ills.
From Barron's
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.
